The response of previously irradiated skin to combinations of X radiation and ultrasound-induced hyperthermia.

Areas of skin approximately 1.5 cm in diameter on the legs of mice were made hyperthermic (30 min at 42.7 degrees C) by exposure to an ultrasound beam (780 kHz), a single dose of X irradiation (2000 rad), or a combination of these treatments. After 35 days, when the acute reaction had reached a steady state, the same tissue was given a second treatment by either hyperthermia, irradiation, or a combination of hyperthermia and irradiation. When the first treatment was irradiation and the second treatment was either irradiation or a combination of hyperthermia and irradiation, the acute skin reactions were similar to those of skin not previously irradiated, indicating a large proportion of recovery from the first irradiation. When irradiation was the first treatment, a comparison of second treatments by hyperthermia plus irradiation with irradiation alone showed a thermal enhancement of 1.45. When the first treatment was hyperthermia plus irradiation, a comparison of second treatments by hyperthermia plus irradiation with irradiation also showed an enhancement factor of 1.45 for the combined treatment.