Mortality experience of atomic bomb survivors, 1950--1974. Life span study report 8

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:5931546

Beebe, G W; Kato, H; Land, C E

The entire 1950--1974 mortality experience has been re-analyzed with particular attention to these questions: (1) is radiation carcinogenesis the only important late effect from the standpoint of mortality; (2) is the carcinogenic effect a general one, affecting all tissues and histologic types; (3) are there reliable city differences from which relative biological effectiveness (RBE) estimates could be made; (4) are Nagasaki data numerous enough to permit any close examination of the functional form of the gamma dose-response curve for specific cancers; and (5) can further insight be gained into the role of age in 1945 at the time of the bomb (ATB) upon the carcinogenic effect of ionizing radiation. Mortality from diseases other than cancer is thus far unrelated to ionizing radiation. Carcinogenic effects generally are not proportional to spontaneous incidence. Evidence of radiation carcinogenesis is much stronger in Hiroshima than in Nagasaki. Absolute risks per rad are higher in Hiroshima where neutrons contribute substantially to the total dose. The leukemogenic effect seems still to be present, especially in those aged 20 to 34 ATB. Age ATB plays an important role in the carcinogenic effect. In general the absolute risk, averaged over the entire period, increases with age ATB. For none of the specific types of cancer except leukemia in Hiroshima are the data numerous enough to permit confident statements to be made about the shape of the dose-response curve in the low-dose region. The leukemogenic effect that dominated any consideration of late mortality effects until recently has now been exceeded by the effect of radiation on forms of cancer other than leukemia. At the end of 1974 excess deaths numbered about 85 for leukemia and 100 for other forms of cancer among the 82,000 A-bomb survivors under study. (ERB)

• Research Organization: Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima (Japan); Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Nagasaki (Japan). Nagasaki Branch
• OSTI ID: 5931546
• Report Number(s): RERF-TR-1-77
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: Japanese and English

Related Subjects

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
450202 -- Explosions & Explosives-- Nuclear-- Weaponry-- (-1989)
550900 -- Pathology
560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
A-BOMB SURVIVORS
AGE DEPENDENCE
ASIA
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
CARCINOGENESIS
DATA
DATA FORMS
DELAYED RADIATION EFFECTS
DISEASES
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HEMIC DISEASES
HIROSHIMA
INFORMATION
IONIZING RADIATIONS
JAPAN
LEUKEMIA
LEUKEMOGENESIS
MORTALITY
NAGASAKI
NEOPLASMS
NUMERICAL DATA
PATHOGENESIS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RADIOINDUCTION
RBE
TABLES