Neoplasms induced by megavoltage radiation in the head and neck region

Journal Article · Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1981 · Cancer; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(19810401)47:7<1770::AID-CNCR2820470708>3.0.CO;2-7· OSTI ID:6567438

Steeves, R A ^[1]; Bataini, J P

---

1. Hospital of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Radiation-induced cancer, although fortunately a rare complication of radiotherapy, is nonetheless observed occasionally even after megavoltage radiation has been used. Over a 22-year period at the Curie Institute, four patients were found to have malignant neoplasms within the fields of megavoltage treatment given for various cancers of the head and neck region. Three of the neoplasms were sarcomas, two osteogenic and one fibrosarcoma, and the other tumor was a sarcomatoid epithelioma. The latent period ranged from 3 1/2 to 15 years. Although the evidence is strong that the neoplasms were causally related to the precedent irradiation, it is acknowledged that rare examples of the double primary phenomenon exist, even separated by five or more years, and that only one such instance would induce a large error in the estimated frequency of postirradiation neoplasms. Because clinical estimates after megavoltage irradiation are usually compounded by an association with a relatively high total absorbed dose, the issue of the incidence of postirradiation neoplasms as a function of the type of external beam (orthovoltage vs megavoltage) may require resolution by experimental means. Another rare sequela of radiotherapy is injury to a peripheral nerve. One of the four patients with a second neoplasm after radiation also developed left hypoglossal nerve palsy 2 1/2 years post-therapy, and left optic nerve atrophy seven years postradiation treatment of a squamous cell carcinoma of the ethmoid and maxillary sinuses. The 51-year-old patient had received a tumor dose of 6800 rads (2043 rets).

• OSTI ID: 6567438
• Journal Information: Cancer; (United States), Vol. 47:7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CARCINOGENESIS
LATENCY PERIOD
ELECTRONS
GAMMA RADIATION
HEAD
DELAYED RADIATION EFFECTS
NECK
NERVES
RADIOTHERAPY
SIDE EFFECTS
COBALT 60
EXTERNAL IRRADIATION
FRACTIONATED IRRADIATION
LOCAL IRRADIATION
MEV RANGE 10-100
NEOPLASMS
PATIENTS
RADIOINDUCTION
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
BODY
BODY AREAS
COBALT ISOTOPES
DISEASES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY RANGE
FERMIONS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
IONIZING RADIATIONS
IRRADIATION
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LEPTONS
MEDICINE
MEV RANGE
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NERVOUS SYSTEM
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
PATHOGENESIS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOLOGY
THERAPY
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
560151* - Radiation Effects on Animals- Man
550603 - Medicine- External Radiation in Therapy- (1980-)