This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Study: Low radiation levels in atomic bomb survivors could lead to soft-tissue sarcoma
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
New results from the prospective, longitudinal Life Span Study of Japanese atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki show that low levels of exposure to ionizing radiation may result in soft-tissue sarcoma, and 1 Gy doses nearly doubled the survivors’ sarcoma risk.
“Our study attempts to raise awareness that even moderate levels of ionizing radiation exposure—from medical imaging, radiation therapy, and environmental exposure—can lead to the development of soft-tissue sarcomas,” orthopedic surgeon Dino Samartzis, DSc, MSc, and colleagues wrote in the study.
Among 80,180 survivors they analyzed, researchers identified 104 soft-tissue sarcomas, with 4.1 cases observed every 100,000 person-years. The survivors were analyzed against a control group with <0.005 Gy average radiation exposure. Most survivors with sarcoma were diagnosed with leiomyosarcomas (37 cases) or malignant fibrous histiocytomas (11 cases).
The survivors were aged 26.8 years, mean, at the time of the bombings and were diagnosed at age 63.6 years mean, with the majority of cases seen in the uterus or stomach. Though 27 sarcoma cases were confirmed at autopsy and two cases by death certificate, the difference in radiation exposure for these individuals and those diagnosed while still living were not significant.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts