Résumé : The decrease of the evaporation residue yields in reactions with massive nuclei is explained by an increase of the competition between quasifission and complete fusion processes and by the decrease of the survival probability of the heated and rotating nuclei against fission along the de-excitation cascade of the compound nucleus. The experimental data on the yields of evaporation residue, fusion-fission and quasifission fragments in the 48Ca + 154Sm reaction are analyzed in the framework of the combined theoretical method based on the dinuclear system concept and advanced statistical model. The measured yields of evaporation residues of the 48Ca + 154Sm reaction have been well reproduced and yields of fission fragments were analyzed using the partial fusion and quasifission cross sections calculated in the dinuclear system model. Such a way of calculation is used to find optimal conditions for the synthesis of the new element Z = 120 (A = 302) by studying the excitation functions of evaporation residues of the 54Cr + 248Cm, 58Fe + 244Pu, and 64Ni + 238U reactions. Our estimations show that the 54Cr + 248Cm reaction is preferable in comparison with the two others. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company.