Therapeutic radiation is a proven treatment for many malignant (cancerous) and benign (non-cancerous) tumors, as well as many inflammatory, infectious, and functional conditions:
Infectious Conditions
- Boil
- Carbuncle
- Furuncle
- Hidradenitis Suppurativa
- Pneumonia (Bacterial, Refractory)
- Pneumonia (COVID-19-Related)
Infections are an investigational indication of low-dose radiation therapy and a priority area of research for CureRays Radiation Medicine® and the CureRays Institute.
The evidence behind low-dose radiation for COVID-19 pneumonia
Treating life-threatening lung inflammation with a single, small dose of radiation is not a new idea — it is a modern revival of a therapy with nearly a century of clinical precedent, now re-tested prospectively in the COVID-19 era.
Historical precedent. A systematic review by Edward J. Calabrese and Gaurav Dhawan documented that, from the 1920s through the 1940s, low-dose X-ray therapy was widely and successfully used to treat pneumonia. Across 863 reported pneumonia patients, they found an overall cure rate of 83.1% — including 78.8% of viral pneumonia cases — with case-series mortality falling from roughly 30% to about 10%. The authors argued this largely forgotten evidence base deserved re-examination for modern viral pneumonias, and later work helped define the optimal anti-inflammatory dose range.
Prospective COVID-19 trial. Dr. Clayton B. Hess and colleagues translated that historical signal into a registered prospective trial — RESCUE 1-19 (Radiation Eliminates Storming Cytokines and Unchecked Edema) — delivering a single 1.5 Gy whole-lung treatment to hospitalized, oxygen-dependent COVID-19 patients. In the planned day-7 interim analysis (5 patients), most patients weaned off supplemental oxygen within 24 hours and 4 of 5 showed radiographic improvement, with 100% 7-day survival. The final pilot results, reporting the treatment’s immunomodulatory effect on circulating inflammatory markers, were published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
These trial figures are population results from small, early-phase studies, not predictions for any individual patient.
Selected literature
- Hess CB, Buchwald ZS, Stokes W, et al. Low-dose whole-lung radiation for COVID-19 pneumonia: planned day-7 interim analysis of a registered clinical trial. Cancer. 2020;126(23):5109–5113.
- Hess CB, Nasti TH, Dhere VR, et al. Immunomodulatory low-dose whole-lung radiation for patients with coronavirus disease 2019–related pneumonia. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021;109(4):867–879.
- Calabrese EJ, Dhawan G. How radiotherapy was historically used to treat pneumonia: could it be useful today? Yale J Biol Med. 2013;86(4):555–570.
- Calabrese EJ, Dhawan G, Kapoor R, Kozumbo WJ. Radiotherapy treatment of human inflammatory diseases and conditions: optimal dose. Hum Exp Toxicol. 2019;38(8):888–898.
Informational only, not medical advice — confirm with your care team. Low-dose radiation for infections, including COVID-19 pneumonia, is investigational and offered only within appropriate clinical-trial or compassionate-use settings.