The Spatial Distribution of X rays and Total Energy Absorption

Surgery and radiotherapy are still the only known methods of curing cancer. In some instances surgery, and in others radiation, offers the patient his best chance of recovery, but these two methods are not mutually exclusive, for there are many cases in which a combination of the two will produce better results than either can obtain alone. The importance of co-operation between surgeon and radiotherapist in deciding upon the treatment to be adopted for cancer patients, and often in the actual administration of treatment as well, is recognised, and many examples could be given. There is, for instance, a growing tendency to treat tumours by exposing them surgically for radium or “contact” X-ray therapy. A carcinoma of the lip is to-day usually treated by irradiation, but if the regional lymph nodes are involved and mobile, a block dissection of the neck offers the best prospect of a cure. In this year's Skinner lecture, Paterson1 gave an excellent example of co-operation between surgeon and radiotherapist,...