[On the problem of radiotherapeutic measures in addition to chemotherapeutic treatment of the microcellular bronchial carcinoma: analysis of recurrence rates (author's transl)].

83 patients with small-cell bronchial carcinomas were treated with a combination of cytostatic chemotherapy ("ACO II" = adriamycine, cyclophosphamide, vincristine) and irradiation of the mediastinum, the tumor umbra and the affected hilum with a focal dose of 30 Gy administered within a period of three to four weeks. During the same period, those patients presenting the favorable initial stage "limited disease" (LD) were additionally submitted to a prophylactic total brain irradiation with a dose of 30 Gy. 42 among 55 patients of stage LD had a complete remission. Among these 42 patients, fourteen had an intrathoracic recurrence, nine of them within the irradiation field. A cerebral recurrence after prophylactic brain irradiation was found in five of 42 cases. The conclusion is drawn that the irradiation dose which has to be administered into little intrathoracic fields must be increased. A dose of 45 Gy within 4 1/2 weeks is desirable. It seems that a prophylactic brain irradiation is only efficient in patients with a favorable prognosis (LD, CR).