Dermatologic radiotherapy--R.I.P.

A questionnaire returned by nearly 3,000 dermatologists indicates that about 75 percent of them have discontinued completely the use of x-ray therapy in acne. An additional 11 percent use it in less than 10 percent of their patients who have this disease."Hazards" constituted the greatest deterrent to the use of ionizing radiation. Yet the assumption that it can cause skin cancers, in the absence of radiodermatitis, is not proved and its importance as an additive energy to solar radiation is considered to be limited. About one-third of the respondents expressed belief that better treatments were available for this condition. An equal number were concerned with public resistance to this therapeutic agent, which, however, seems to be more apparent than real. Probably the major roadblock was posed by the dermatologic training centers where teaching was withheld despite a rule of the American Board of Dermatology favoring it. Other factors mentioned with some frequency included ineffectiveness of radiotherapy, lack of equipment, and fiscal and medicolegal considerations. This study indicates that dermatologic radiation therapy is passing into oblivion.