Radiation and its Uses in the Treatment of Urologic Neoplasms

Abstract

FOLLOWING the discovery of the X-ray by Roentgen in 1895 and radium by the Curies in 1898, two new weapons were added to the armamentarium in the treatment of cancer of the urologic system. Until this time surgery had proved only moderately effective in the treatment of these distressing conditions. However, it remained for Kroenig and Gauss in 1911 to effectively apply the roentgen rays in the treatment of female pelvic disorders by the introduction of their multiple portals of entry and cross-fire method of irradiation. In 1913, Pasteur and Degrais introduced a method of applying radium inside of the bladder, using a Coude gum catheter. We then had two forms of radiation for combating cancer—the X-rays for surface radiation and radium for treatment in hollow viscuses. Through the efforts of urologists, gynecologists, roentgenologists, and physicists, improved methods of applying the roentgen rays and radium were established and a new era in the treatment of tumors of the urogenital system was begun. Aft...