A study of the response of osteogenic sarcoma and adjacent normal tissues to radiation

An analysis is made of the surgical specimens of 18 patients with hystologicafly-proven osteosarcoma who were treated with radiation as the first treatment, and submitted 6 months later to amputation (2 patients had only a second biopsy). Plotting of dose and treatment time against persistence or sterilization of the tumor shows that there is an intermediate zone that extends from 3200 to 5000 rad in 10 days to 8000 to 10,000 rad in 60 to 70 days, inside which the tumor may or may not be destroyed. All cases located above this zone were sterilized; and all those under it showed persistence of viable tumor cells. A similar correlation is made in 47 irradiated patients of the secondary reactions of normal skin and soft tissues surrounding the tumor. An intermediate zone also exists above which all reactions were severe, in some cases reaching necrosis; below this zone, all reactions were mild. When treatment time was longer than 45 days, reactions were only moderate.