Radiation-Associated Lung Cancer: A Comparison of the Histology of Lung Cancers in Uranium Miners and Survivors of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Published in: Radiation research 1993-05, Vol.134 (2), p.234-243
• Main Authors: Land, Charles E., Shimosato, Yukio, Saccomanno, Geno, Tokuoka, Shoji, Auerbach, Oscar, Tateishi, Ryuhei, Greenberg, S. Donald, Nambu, Shigeru, Carter, Darryl, Akiba, Suminori, Keehn, Robert, Madigan, Patricia, Mason, Thomas J., Tokunaga, Masayoshi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 054000 - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety; 550900 - Pathology; 560101 - Biomedical Sciences, Applied Studies- Radiation Effects- Dosimetry & Monitoring- (1992-); 560151 - Radiation Effects on Animals- Man; A-BOMB SURVIVORS; Adenocarcinoma; Adenocarcinoma - epidemiology; Adenocarcinoma - etiology; ADULTS; AEROSOLS; AGE GROUPS; Aged; AGED ADULTS; ANIMALS; ASIA; Atomic bombs; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biological and medical sciences; BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS; BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS; Carcinoma, Small Cell - epidemiology; Carcinoma, Small Cell - etiology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - epidemiology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - etiology; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; Cigarette smoking; COLLOIDS; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; DEVELOPED COUNTRIES; DISEASES; DISPERSIONS; DOSES; ELDERLY PEOPLE; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; EVALUATION; Female; HIROSHIMA; HISTOLOGY; HUMAN POPULATIONS; Humans; JAPAN; Japan - epidemiology; Lung neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms - epidemiology; Lung Neoplasms - etiology; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; MAMMALS; MAN; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; MINERS; MINES; Mining; MINORITY GROUPS; NAGASAKI; NEOPLASMS; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - epidemiology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - etiology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - pathology; NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; Nuclear Warfare; OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE; PERSONNEL; Pneumology; POPULATIONS; PRIMATES; Radiation dosage; RADIATION DOSES; RADIATION EFFECTS; RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY; RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT; RADIOLOGICAL WARFARE; Radiotherapy; RESIDUES; SMOKES; Smoking; Smoking cessation; SOLS; TOBACCO SMOKES; UNDERGROUND FACILITIES; United States - epidemiology; Uranium; URANIUM MINES; VERTEBRATES; WARFARE
• ISSN: 0033-7587; 1938-5404
• DOI: 10.2307/3578464

A binational panel of Japanese and American pulmonary pathologists reviewed tissue slides of lung cancer cases diagnosed among Japanese A-bomb survivors and American uranium miners and classified the cases according to histological subtype. Blind reviews were completed on slides from 92 uranium miners and 108 A-bomb survivors, without knowledge of population, sex, age, smoking history, or level of radiation exposure. Consensus diagnoses were obtained with respect to principal subtype, including squamous-cell cancer, small-cell cancer, adenocarcinoma, and less frequent subtypes. The results were analyzed in terms of population, radiation dose, and smoking history. As expected, the proportion of squamous-cell cancer was positively related to smoking history in both populations. The relative frequencies of small-cell cancer and adenocarcinoma were very different in the two populations, but this difference was accounted for adequately by differences in radiation dose or, more specifically, dose-based relative risk estimates based on published data. Radiation-induced cancers appeared more likely to be of the small-cell subtype, and less likely to be adenocarcinomas, in both populations. The data appeared to require no additional explanation in terms of radiation quality (α particles vs γ rays), uniform or local irradiation, inhaled vs external radiation source, or other population difference.