In Defense of Radiation Therapy

To the Editor: The Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital are always a source of stimulation. It is understandable that cases are selected that pose unusual problems, and the lack of appreciation of the frequency with which irradiation can cure patients with malignant tumors serves as a good “red herring.” The rarity of potentially life-threatening late effects of radiation makes a discussant hesitate to propose such a diagnosis with any degree of certainty. The fact that therapeutic radiology is placed in an unfavorable light to students, house officers, and attending physicians by an extraordinary array of patients with deleterious ….