of malignant disease processes employs the compounds of the present invention in pharmaceutical compositions that are administered orally or parenterally or intravenously the dose employed depends on the radiation protocol for each individual patient in protocols where the radiation dose is divided into a large number of fractions the drug can be administered at intervals in the schedule and not necessarily with each radiation treatment it should be noted that the compounds of the present invention are not intended for chronic administration in general the drug is administered from 10 minutes to 5 hours prior to the radiation treatment in a dosage amount of between 0 25 to about 4 0 grams per square meter of body surface approximately equivalent to a dosage of 6 to 100 mg kg of patient body weight as set forth in the 34 nelson textbook of pediatrics 34 eleventh edition 1979 p 31 edited by vaughan mckay behrman and nelson the dosage range given is the effective dosage range and the decision as to the exact dosage used must be made by the administering physician based on his judgement of the patient 39 s general physical condition in determining the dose for the individual patient the physician may begin with an initial dose of 0 25 g square meter of body surface to determine how well the drug is tolerated and increase the dosage with each succeeding radiation treatment observing the patient carefully for any drug side effect the composition to be administered is an effective amount of the active compound and a pharmaceutical carrier for said active compound the dosage form for intravenous administration is a sterile isotonic solution of.