Gonadal dose in male radiotherapy patients.

Abstract Lithium fluoride thermoluminescent dosimeters were used to measure the gonadal dose in male patients undergoing radiotherapy on a 2-MV Van de Graaff accelerator. The patients were selected from two treatment groups, and the gonadal dose was measured and expressed as a function of the tumor dose. The gonadal dose was 0.0112 and 0.045% of the tumor dose for radiation therapy to the head and thorax, respectively. Phantom measurements showed that most of the radiation reaching the gonads was transmitted axially through the body, and therefore it is not possible to reduce this dose measurably with simple shielding.