EFFECTS OF WHOLE-BODY IRRADIATION 



259 



*Rough and incomplete, but the best available information based on Recommendations of the Interna- 

 tional Commission on Radiological Protection, 1955. 



though pressed hard by the radiomimetic (radiation-mocking) chemicals, 

 involves the use of sensitizers. As we already have seen, certain chemicals 

 protect molecules and cells against radiation damage; certain other chemi- 

 cals can sensitize, or increase the damage which a dose of radiation will impart 

 to molecules and cells. For example, excess O? and certain organic mole- 

 cules such as synkavite have been used in selected tumor treatments. 



The competition from radiomimetic chemicals is not just casual! The 

 chemical action of the sulfur- and nitrogen-mustard gases is surprisingly like 

 that of X rays on tissue: membrane destruction, some molecules broken, 

 others polymerized, and the cell unable to reproduce. These agents can even 

 cause genetic changes. The technique used is to stop the natural blood flow- 

 in the region to be treated, pump the dissolved mustard gas through the 

 tissue for some minutes, and then to flush it out with a fresh blood trans- 

 fusion before opening the stops again to full natural circulation. 



