Whole body surface electron irradiation in the treatment of mycosis fungoides. An evaluation of 200 patients.

The records of 200 patients with generalized cutaneous mycosis fungoides treated with whole body surface electron irradiation were reviewed. Type of skin lesion appeared to be the most important factor with respect to both survival and generalized skin disease-free interval. High-dose irradiation did not seem to influence prognosis significantly compared with a relatively conservative dose. The "cure" rate for the entire group was 7%. For a more homogeneous dose distribution, the eight-field technique is now used instead of the original four-field method. A new formula is proposed to standardize the reporting of doses.