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From 1961 to 1969 426 patients (208 with Hodgkin's disease and 218 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) underwent endolympatic radiotherapy with Lipiodol 131I at the National Cancer Institute of Milano. For this study, only those patients with stage I, II, or III disease (with or without systemic symptoms), who were not previously treated, and who had a complete follow-up were reviewed. It appears that while in the cases where there is lymphographic evidence of involved lymph nodes, endolymphatic radiotherapy is not of value, in the cases with apparently negative lymphography, endolymphatic radiotherapy can reduce the incidence of relapse in the inguino-retroperitoneal nodes to a statistically significant degree.

The authors report treatment of inguinal and retroperitoneal lymph nodes of 285 malignant lymphomas (143 Hodgkin's disease and 142 lymphoreticular sarcomas) with Lipiodol Fluide 131I (endolymphatic radiotherapy). From 1961 to 1966 the radioactive contrast material was injected in doses ranging from 0.2 to 2.5 mc/cc (10 cc each foot). Adequately opacified nodes responded promptly with marked and progressive reduction in size. When indicated, a second administration of Lipiodol 131I in a dose of 2.5 mc/cc was always feasible. Several factors prevented a homogeneous and satisfactory distribution of radioactive contrast material throughout the iliac and the para-aortic nodes in one third of the cases. Therefore, in many instances patients had to be treated with external radiation therapy. Histopathologic examination of lymph nodes removed at exploratory laparotomy (four cases) or at autopsy (ten cases) confirmed that Lipiodol 131I did not fill all the iliac and para-aortic nodes and that destruction of lymphomatous tissue was often incomplete. Recurrences were seen mostly in abnormal adequately filled nodes opacified with high doses of Lipiodol 131I. In Hodgkin's disease they occurred particularly in the para-aortic area and in lymphoreticular sarcomas in the inguinal and iliac chains. Side effects were minimal. They included amenorrhea, pulmonary insufficiency, hepatic failure and hemolytic anemia. Clinical and histologic signs of pulmonary and hepatic fibrosis were not seen. The authors conclude that endolymphatic radiotherapy should not be considered as a radical treatment for retroperitoneal adenopathies in malignant lymphomas and that its role as a prophylactic therapeutic tool deserves more extensive long-term studies.