A controlled study of efficacy of interstitial or external irradiation in a virus-induced brain-tumor model in rats.

In a controlled study of interstitial radiotherapy in the avian sarcoma virus (ASV)-induced glioma model in rats, prolongation of survival was demonstrated (p = 0.08 in Experiment 1 and p = 0.03 in Experiment 2) following mean dosages of 7582 to 9902 cGy 125I, when compared to nontreatment or to control studies with implantation of nonradioactive seeds. More significant (p = 0.02) prolongation of survival was demonstrated following external beam whole-head radiotherapy with nine fractions of 333 cGy, three times weekly over 3 weeks (total dose 3000 cGy). Survival was more prolonged when whole-head radiotherapy was begun 35 days following virus inoculation rather than at 71 days, probably reflecting a greater efficacy with smaller tumor targets.

Duke Scholars

Author Darell Doty Bigner Neurosurgery