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The effects of gonadal irradiation in clinical radiation therapy: A review
Author(s) -
Lushbaugh C. C.,
Casarett George W.
Publication year - 1976
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(197602)37:2+<1111::aid-cncr2820370821>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - medicine , sterility , fertility , radiation therapy , physiology , ovary , surgery , biology , population , genetics , environmental health
Recent improvements in radiation therapy of some malignancies in lower abdominal sites are leading to prolongation of life in persons of child‐bearing age. These successes require an evaluation of the possible undersirable consequences of the unavoidable gonadal irradiation that occurs in these cases. A review of radiobiological data from experimental animal studies and retrospective clinical studies suggests that in most instances human gonadal exposures in both sexes are insufficient to cause permanent sterility, because the exposures are fractionated and the total gonadal dose is much less than 600 rads. As a consequence, return of fertility must be anticipated, and the worrisome questions of radiation‐induced genetic damage in subsequent pregnancies must be addressed. This review did not substantiate this fear, because no case reports could be found of malformed infants among the progency of previously irradiated parents. Some experimental studies suggest that radiation‐damaged spermatogonia are self‐destructive, but any evidence for this phenomenon in the ovary is nonexistent. We suggest that the difference between fact and theory here may be the mathematical result of the interplay of low probability for occurrences and the few patients who until now have survived long enough for study.