Total Body Irradiation

Total body irradiation is a form of radiotherapy used primarily as part of the preparative regimen for hematopoietic stem cell, or bone marrow, transplantation. As its name implies, it involves irradiating the entire body, though in modern practice the lungs are often partially shielded to lower the risk of radiation-induced lung injury. In the setting of bone marrow transplantation, total body irradiation destroys or suppresses the recipient own immune system to prevent immunologic rejection of the transplanted donor bone marrow or blood stem cells, and high doses can also eradicate residual cancer cells in the recipient, increasing the likelihood that the transplant will succeed.