To the Editor:—
Words of caution in regard to the hazards of radiation for both malignant and nonmalignant disease have often been spoken. Radiation for ulcer, as outlined in our report, must, of necessity, be administered by a radiotherapist, who should be well versed in the possible sequelae of his method.As for the documented experience in this form of treatment, we refer to the article of Drs. Kirsner and Palmer on treatment of peptic ulcer (Amer J Med29:793-803 [Nov.] 1960) in which they report on a total of 1,755 patients treated by gastric radiation since 1937. In our bibliography, we referred to the article by Drs. Levin, Clayman, Palmer, and Kirsner, which is a similar report on a portion of the same group noted above.In my own experience (Dr. Berman) there has been a total of 310 cases of duodenal ulcer treated by radiation since January,