02.06.2013 Views

Health Risks of Ionizing Radiation: - Clark University

Health Risks of Ionizing Radiation: - Clark University

Health Risks of Ionizing Radiation: - Clark University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

50 Atomic Bomb Survivors<br />

(ALL), acute myeloid (AML), chronic myeloid<br />

(CML) and adult T-cell leukemia (ATL). A fourth<br />

subtype, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), is<br />

typically not associated with radiation. The study<br />

found strong evidence for radiation induced risks <strong>of</strong><br />

all leukemia subtypes except ATL, some evidence<br />

for a lymphoma risk, and no significant evidence for<br />

a multiple myeloma risk.<br />

The shapes <strong>of</strong> the dose-response curves and the<br />

effects <strong>of</strong> age and gender appeared to be distinctly<br />

different among these diseases. The pattern <strong>of</strong> ALL<br />

risk was consistent with a linear dose-response<br />

model having a high risk coefficient (ERR 10.3/<br />

Sv, 4.3-25). Risk appeared higher for childhood<br />

exposures and declined over time. CML risk was<br />

also consistent with a linear dose-response model<br />

and a decline in risk over time. Age at exposure was<br />

not found to have a significant effect on risk; the<br />

average ERR estimate for this subtype was 6.2/Sv.<br />

The dose-response pattern for AML was nonlinear,<br />

concave-up, and less dependent on age at exposure<br />

or time since exposure. The estimated ERR at 1 Sv<br />

was 3.3 (Preston et al. 1994).<br />

It is important to point out that the LSS followup<br />

began in 1950, five years after the bombings.<br />

Leukemia has a latent period <strong>of</strong> as few as 2 years,<br />

so a significant number <strong>of</strong> early cases were probably<br />

missed. Preston et al. (1994), after considering some<br />

information about these early cases, estimated that<br />

leukemia risk estimates might have been 10-15%<br />

higher if these early cases had been included.<br />

Results for the other diseases studied by<br />

these authors were inconclusive. ATL is endemic<br />

to Nagasaki and rare in Hiroshima and has been<br />

associated with the HTLV-1 virus. Of the 25 ATL cases<br />

in the cohort, 24 were from Nagasaki, suggesting<br />

that the virus may have independently caused the<br />

leukemia cases. Furthermore, when analysis was<br />

limited to Nagasaki there was no evidence <strong>of</strong> a doseresponse<br />

pattern. There was some evidence <strong>of</strong> an<br />

increased risk <strong>of</strong> non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among<br />

males but there was not a significant relationship<br />

between dose and ERR. Multiple myeloma was not<br />

significantly related to dose in the main analysis,<br />

although previous analyses had shown an association<br />

with incidence and mortality. Some cases were<br />

excluded from the main analysis because they had<br />

high doses (>4 Gy) or because their first primary<br />

cancer diagnosis was not multiple myeloma. If these<br />

cases were included then a significant dose-response<br />

relationship was observed (ERR 0.9/Sv, p = 0.02).<br />

Little et al. (1999) pooled the leukemia data from<br />

the atomic bomb survivors, cervical cancer patients<br />

treated with radiation, and ankylosing spondylitis<br />

patients also treated with radiation. These medically<br />

exposed cohorts received much higher doses than the<br />

atomic bomb survivors and therefore contribute more<br />

information about high-dose dynamics and little or<br />

no information about low-dose effects. These authors<br />

used a model that included an exponential decline in<br />

risk as doses increase; this accounts for the killing <strong>of</strong><br />

precancerous cells and has been used to model the<br />

risks <strong>of</strong> the medical exposure in other contexts (see<br />

sections 3.3 and 3.4). This analysis demonstrated<br />

the differences among leukemia subtypes. When<br />

all leukemias were modeled together the cohorts<br />

were not showing compatible risk estimates; when<br />

leukemia subtypes were modeled independently the<br />

cohorts were consistent with each other.<br />

4.5 Incidence <strong>of</strong> noncancer disease<br />

Wong et al. (1993) examined noncancer disease<br />

incidence through 1986. This study found significant<br />

linear dose-response patterns for thyroid disease<br />

(ERR 0.3/Gy, 0.16-0.47), chronic liver disease and<br />

cirrhosis (ERR 0.14/Gy, 0.04-0.27), and uterine<br />

myoma 10 (ERR 0.46/Gy, 0.27-0.70). Results for<br />

Parkinson’s disease were based on 50 cases and were<br />

suggestive although not significantly positive (ERR<br />

0.44/Gy, -0.06-1.57). When analysis was restricted<br />

to the 1968-1986 time period there was an apparent<br />

risk <strong>of</strong> heart attack among those who were younger<br />

than 40 at the time <strong>of</strong> the bombings (ERR 0.57/Gy,<br />

0.26-1.76). Hayashi et al. (2003) reported a dosedependent<br />

increase <strong>of</strong> certain proteins in the blood<br />

(interleukin 6, C-reactive protein) that indicate<br />

an inflammatory response. These measurements<br />

were made in 1995-1997, so they indicate a longterm<br />

change in the status <strong>of</strong> the blood, and this<br />

10 A uterine myoma is a common benign tumor <strong>of</strong> the uterine muscle, present in about 40% <strong>of</strong> adult women and usually<br />

asymptomatic.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!