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7.
BLOOD COUNTS
Berge:
I'm just abouft finished.
Yffou mentioned something about radiation
effects on the blood count during radiation therapy.
Kohn:
Berge:
Yes.
Did you work with, well what kind of work did you do with that?
And did
you have any collaboration with some of the hematologists at UCSF?
Kohn:
No, I was no great shakes. But where is that mentioned? That paper
was published in 1955, Changes in the Human Leukocyte Count During X-ray
Therapy for Cancer and Their Dependence Upon the Integral Dose. I had noticed
when doigng some clignical work that the literature on changes in the blood count
was very small, amazingly so. fimviivdinvelesavnummtmm I had a technician at
PPBLer who drew the blood and did the counts of patients before, during
and after treatment.
as to what they mean.
Berge:
The results were interesting though I still am not sure
Do you underst fig what is meant by dose?
What do you mean, "I don't understand " ?
Kohn:
Well, radiation dose means the amount of radiation given tmmmanhm
a small part of
per gram of exposed tissue.
What I found was that if you irradiatedthe neck,
you gowa certain depression of the blood count.
If you irradiated
the whole
neck, giving the same dogA\ as before, you got a much larger effect. So
effect was proportional to the body mass irradiated.
the
Well, it was surppritig to
tanpring