[A review of 25 years' clinical application of fast electrons in radiation therapy (author's transl)].

The first betatron developed for current use of fast electrons in radiation therapy (15 MeV, Siemens) has been installed at the Dermatologische Klinik der Universität Göttingen in 1952 (Bode, Markus). The first human carcinoma treated with fast electrons was irradiated using the first 6-MeV-betatron (Dr. Gund, Siemens) at the 2nd institute of physics of the Göttingen university (Bode, Kopfermann, Paul, 1949). Characteristics of the electron radiation utilized for treatment and its particular advantages in dermatological radation therapy are reported. Two clinical examples, one of them the first human carcinoma irradiated with fast electrons, are described, and the frequency distribution of the indications for electron therapy at the dermatological clinics of the university is tabulated for a total of 3419 cases treated between 1949 and 1972 (Bode et al.).