A study was carried out with a Rion TR-03 type electro-gustometer for subjective and quantitative expression of the degree of taste deficiency due to radiation therapy and the effects of treatment. The changes of the electro-gustometric threshold due to irradiation were examined in patients who were divided into three groups: those receiving irradiation of the whole oral cavity, those receiving irradiation of the posterior tongue and the soft palate and those receiving irradiation of the gustatory nervous system. In the group receiving irradiation of the whole oral cavity, the threshold showed a tendency to increase when receiving 10 Gy/5 days, and the threshold became unmeasurable when more than 40 Gy/26 days was given. In the group receiving irradiation of the posterior tongue and the soft palate, almost no change of the threshold in the anterior was observed in spite of increasing irradiation doses. In the group receiving irradiation of the gustatory nervous system, the threshold in the intact hemicephalus did not changed even after irradiation, but a change was found on the pathological side. Based on these results, the authors originated a complication scoring system and a treatment scoring system both of which are divided into five stages. An electro-gustometric examination is used in order to provide effective treatment with a preserving function something which has been strongly desired for radiation therapy of cancer.

Brain Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of prophylactic irradiation of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the central nervous system of children.

The development of prophylactic therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the central nervous system in children has resulted in an improvement of the prognosis and prolongation of patients' lives. On the other hand, late irradiation effects have increased with the improvement of the prognosis. Therefore, there is now an important need to lessen these late effects without deteriorating the prognosis. We have investigated the recurrence rate, the survival rate and the cause of death of ALL patients who were divided into a none prophylactic irradiation group and 15 Gy, 20 Gy and 24 Gy irradiation groups. The results show that the effect of prophylactic irradiation has been more effective in the 20 Gy group than that of the 24 Gy group. Furthermore, brain atrophy and leukoencephalopathy, which were investigated by X-ray CT in long-term survivors of post-prophylactic irradiation without recurrence, have been less in the 20 Gy group than in that of the 24 Gy group. This report presents the result that the most favorable dose for prophylactic irradiation for central nervous system leukemia of ALL in children is 20 Gy by a step-up method.

Atrophy↗