Table 2.

Expected malignancies in Marshallese* in 25 years based on risk
estimates (cases/106/rad/yr) (99) for exposed Japanese.**
Expected
Type

M

F

Leukemia (20-yr risk period)

0.5

Breast

0

Thyroid
Lung

Stomach
All cancers

.

0.3

Observed
M

F

1

0

0

0

1.4

3.7

0

0.7

0.7

0

0.3
2.4

1.1

0.3
4.5

7

0

1
2

0
7

*The combined exposed populations of Rongelap and Utirik (244 people), with
an average whole-body dose of 62 rads and thyroid dose of 202 rads per

person.
**Risks are estimated to have the following male/female ratio:
leukemia 3/2;
thyroid 2.2/5.8; breast 0/5.8; lung 3-6/3.93; stomach 1.5/1.7; all cancers
12.8/23.1. These risks are age-weighted averages with certain stipulations
noted in Table V-14 of ref. 99.

Skin.

Because of the extensive radiation exposure of the skin of the

Rongelap people and the development of acute lesions and epilation, careful ex-

aminations of the skin for possible late changes have been continued.

Resid-

ual scarring and pigment changes as well as histopathological changes have

been described previously (2). A notable finding was the development of a number of benign nevi in former areas of beta burns. of the neck in several women,

also described previously (11); there has been no further development of such
lesions in recent years. The absence of chronic radiation dermatitis and of
developing skin cancers is notable in view of the extensive radiation lesions

of the skin that had occurred in the majority of the exposed Rongelap people.

As has been pointed out, the low mean energy of the beta radiation may not
have caused sufficient injury to the germinal layer of the skin to result in
late effects, or skin cancer may have a longer latent period and may yet appear .

C.

Pituitary Tumor*
A Rongelap woman who had been exposed to fallout radiation at age 20

underwent a thyroidectomy in 1969 (at age 36) with a finding of an invasive
*Drs. J. Robbins (NIH, Bethesda, MD) and R.A. Conard (BNL).

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