The Radiation Treatment of Neoplasm—II

Abstract

In this discussion on the radiation of neoplasm I have been asked to open the subject from the point of view of long-wave therapy. In acting as champion of this type of treatment it must not be in any way assumed that I use X rays of long wave-length in preference to those of shorter wave-length. Each, in my opinion, has its specific use and is just as valuable in its sphere. During the last twenty-five years in which I have used X rays as a therapeutic agent, I have come to some general conclusions, and these I am setting forth here. With the knowledge that X rays owe their therapeutic value chiefly to their destructive properties, it is only logical, in choosing the particular type of rays to be employed, to bear this fact in mind and to exercise the utmost discretion in order to insure that the patient constitutionally suffers the least possible harm, whilst ensuring that the lesion under treatment is successfully dealt with. Obviously there is no clearly defined boundary between long and short wave therapy—the one merges imperceptibly into the other. A discussion on general lines should prove most helpful, as it prompts a full and free expression of opinion on the whole subject of X-ray treatment.