Bronchiogenic Cancer: Treatment with Roentgen Rays

Abstract

In earlier studies the clinical and pathologic aspects of bronchiogenic cancer have been greatly detailed (1). Very few of the patients, however, had been treated with roentgen rays or by any other means. A perusal of the literature on this subject also reveals a noticeable lack of investigation. It seemed particularly desirable, therefore, to present the case reports which follow, first, because of their clinical and pathologic interest, and secondly, because the patients were treated with roentgen rays over a prolonged period. Although roentgen therapy was instituted rather late, the microscopic changes found in the lungs of one patient were of such a nature as to suggest that they might have resulted from the rays. It also is the aim of the report to call attention to the importance of early diagnosis, for, as has been previously emphasized, “the therapeutic failure of cancer of internal organs in most instances is due to a tardy diagnosis” (1). Report of Cases Case 1: Onset of illness at the age of twenty-five, with uncontrollable hiccough. Radiographic disclosure of tumor at the base of the right lung. General good health for six years; then onset of headaches, cough, and weakness. Radiotherapy with subjective improvement. Death seven years after onset of symptoms. Necropsy findings: right bronchiogenic carcinoma, metastatic to left lung, hilum, and paratracheal lymph nodes. Histologic finding of lymphangitis carcinomatosa; calcium deposits in right lung.