[Multiple malignomas--an analysis of 352 patients].

8234 patients were irradiated between 1977 and 1988 in the Department of Radiotherapy at Würzburg, 211 patients (2.56%) developed multiple primary malignant tumors. The records of 1599 patients from the year 1958 to 1976 were reviewed and another 141 multiple tumors were found. On the whole, 352 patients with 326 cases of two tumors, 21 cases with three tumors, 4 cases with four tumors and one case with five tumors were observed. Both sexes were affected equally, but the peak age of these patients was found to be the sixth and seventh decade. The mean interval for a second primary was 5.7 years, from the second to the third and from the third to fourth tumor it was 1.6 and 0.5 years, respectively. 18 patients with a second malignoma in a formerly irradiated area were diagnosed, especially men with tumors in the aerodigestive tract and women with tumors in the pelvic region. The data of our clinic do not indicate an elevated risk for radiation-induced malignancies.