Roentgen Therapy Supplementing Surgery in the Treatment of Gliomas

Abstract

A survey is made of the results of combined surgical and X-ray therapy in 52 patients with proven brain tumors. There is evidence that irradiation of the brain of animals and men produces degenerative changes in the normal brain. The authors establish the principle that the objective of irradiation should be a dose likely to bring about maximum regression of the tumor with the least amount of damage to the normal brain tissue. A tumor dose from 5000 r to 6000 r protracted over 20 to 30 treatments is considered acceptable.