Recent advances in the radiation therapy of cancer have not been fully recognized by American dermatologists, nor have the therapeutic advantages offered by the newer methods of irradiation been widely utilized by them; radiologists, however, have readily adopted these new procedures. Dermatologists have many advantages in their superior ability to diagnose cutaneous lesions and in their more accurate knowledge of cutaneous reactions, and they should adopt these new measures to maintain their therapeutic superiority in the treatment of cutaneous malignant tumors.
Régaud1 and his associates at the Radium Institute in Paris have proved, both experimentally and clinically, that to obtain the most effective result from irradiation in treating malignant lesions it is necessary to prolong the radiation time. This necessitates diminution of the strength of radium needles when interstitial methods are used or increase of the distance between the source of gamma rays and the area to be