Mantle treatment of Hodgkin's disease. Results and side effects.

Eighty-seven patients were treated with the mantle technique for Hodgkin's disease. Usually 40 Gy in 27 fractions in two series over 71 days were given. A local recurrence was diagnosed in 3 of 87 patients. An analysis of radiation reactions of the lung tissue, heart and pericardium, and spinal cord is reported. It is recommended to give mantle treatment for Hodgkin's disease over a relatively long period of time such as in split-course in two series.