Extracorporeal Irradiation of the Blood in Leukaemic Patients

Summary: Fourteen short treatment courses of extracorporeal irradiation have been given to 13 patients; eight had acute leukaemia, one had chronic myeloid leukaemia in the acute terminal phase, and four had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Five of the patients with acute leukaemia were treated relatively early in the disease; they responded with a reduction in the blast‐cell count in the blood which was maintained with chemotherapy. In the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia cases, the white‐cell count and the size of the spleen and lymph nodes were reduced, with clinical improvement in three cases. Dosage and theoretical considerations have been discussed and it is considered that there is no evidence that a significant interchange of cells between the blood and the bone marrow occurs in acute leukaemia. The results in the treatment of certain cases of early acute leukaemia and late chronic lymphocytic leukaemia warrant further trials.