title: Radiation tolerance of the liver in relation to the preserved functional capacity.
abstract: The radiation tolerance of the liver was investigated in 12 patients, 11 of them with liver cirrhosis, treated for hepatocellular carcinoma by partial liver irradiation with doses between 50 and 77 Gy. The tolerance was assessed by the complication probability (Lyman's model), which concerned the injured tissue itself, and by a prediction score used for postsurgical liver failure, which concerned the preserved functional capacity, assuming that the > or = 30 Gy volume was equivalent to the resected volume. The prediction score corresponded better with the observed risk of fatal liver failure than the complication probability. The liver volume after radiotherapy correlated largely with the untreated volume and the low-dose volume. Thus the preserved functional capacity gives a better expression of the radiation tolerance than direct measures of the extent of injured tissue.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tatsuzaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okumura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fuji
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujii
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy