Premium
Remission induction and remission duration with primary radiotherapy in advanced lymphosarcoma
Author(s) -
Johnson Ralph E.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197206)29:6<1473::aid-cncr2820290609>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - medicine , radiation therapy , complete remission , lymph node , surgery , disease , bone marrow , primary tumor , chemotherapy , cancer , metastasis
Preliminary experience with irradiation as the primary modality of treatment for patients with generalized lymphosarcoma suggested a potential role for radiotherapy in at least selected stages of advanced disease. Specifically, cases with widespread lymph node involvement (with or without bone marrow infiltration) were frequently observed to have complete remissions which occasionally were sustained without maintenance therapy. More complete information on the initial clinical responses for this presentation of disease is described here. Treatment consisted of total body irradiation (TBI), total nodal irradiation (TNI), or a combination of these approaches. The complete remission rate for 27 consecutive patients with previously untreated disease was 93% (25/27), and the median duration of unmaintained remission was 26 months. Following relapse, irradiation has continued to be effective in the subsequent treatment of most patients. The relatively prolonged symptom‐free intervals and a 3‐year survival rate of 87% suggests that primary treatment with radiotherapy should be directed toward maximum control of disease rather than being limited to palliation of symptomatic areas, despite the anatomically extensive involvement at the time of diagnosis.