Microwave treatment of intracerebral L1210 leukemia: schedule-dependent partial reversal of the effects of methotrexate.

One-GHz microwave (MW) irradiation at a power density of 5 mW/cm2 was combined with methotrexate (MTX) in an attempt to treat more effectively central nervous system (CNS) L1210 leukemia in DBA/2J mice. When mice with CNS leukemia were treated with the combination of MW and MTX, there was no improvement in survival compared with a group of animals treated with MTX alone; however, the group that received MTX before the MW exposure had a significantly reduced survival time compared with the group treated with MTX alone or with the group to which MTX was administered after MW.