Basic principles in radiation oncology

Curie and by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. The first 25 years of their therapeutic application could be considered the dark ages of the now 80-year history of our discipline. The radiation therapists of that early day worked under formidable handicaps. They had no unit of dose to work with, and no reliable methods to measure dose. Their equipment was cantankerous, unpredictable, and temperamental. The energies that they could achieve were quite low. All of these physical problems, coupled with their complete lack of knowledge of the biologic effects and mechanisms of action of these mysterious new rays, led to a very high primary morbidity and very poor results, indeed, in the cure of cancer.