[Subtotal whole-body irradiation as the 1st phase in the therapy of patients with stage-IIIB and -IV lymphogranulomatosis: the immediate effects].

Systemic radiotherapy in the form of subtotal radiation of the body (STRB) was provided for the first time to 23 patients with lymphogranulomatosis, stages IIIB-IVB, as the first stage of anticancer treatment as an alternative to chemotherapy. STRB was established to produce marked immediate and steady anticancer effects manifesting in the removal of intoxication, a reduction of the size of the lymph nodes and specific infiltration in the lungs, and the lowering of the ESR. The duration of STRB was 10.6 days on the average, with the interval till the next treatment stage amounting to 31.2 days. The regularities were established in the time-course of changes in the hematological parameters in the course of and after STRB, permitting one to define them as a subacute radiation syndrome.