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BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
CONTACT:
UPTON, NEW YORK 11973
PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE
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Carl Thien
10/12/72)
At AEC Headquarters
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Mrs. Gail Bradshaw
Day - 301-973-3446
Eve. & Weekends 301-973-1000
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BROOKHAVEN MEDICAL TEAM REPORTS ON 1972 FINDINGS
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AMONG MARSHALLESE EXPOSED TO FALLOUT IN 1954
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Upton, N.Y. -- Dr. Robert A. Conard (MD) of Brookhaven National
Laboratory, head of the medical team that recently returned from its annual
examination of the Marshall Islanders exposed to fallout from a 1954 Bikini
weapons test, has reported two new cases of thyroid nodules and one case of
acute myelogenous leukemia.
Two of the three were among those living on Rongelap Atoll in 1954,
site of the heaviest fallout from the test.
The third was exposed to fallout
on Alingnae.
The leukemia patient is a 19-year old male from Rongelap who had
previously been operated on in 1968 in the United States for partial removal
of his thyroid and has since been receiving thyroid hormone treatment.
This
is the first case of leukemia to be found in the exposed population.
The young man's leukemia was suspected following a routine blood
examination by the medical team.
He returned to the United States with the
medical team, arriving at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Medical Center
on Friday, September 30, where the initial diagnosis was made.
Last week he
was moved to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center for further
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tests.
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He will be treated by a team of leukemia specialists.
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Following a biopsy on October 10, 1972, the diagnosis was confirmed.
The two new cases of thyroid nodules involve an 18-year old and a
22-year old female, both of whom now live on Majuro.
Both will be brought to
the United States for treatment in the next few months.
-more-
Brookhaven National Laboratory is operated by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), under oa contract with the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission. AUIis a non-profit,
research management organization sponsored by nine Universities: Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Princeton,
Pennsylvania, Rochester, and Yale. AU! also operates the National Radio Astronomy Observatory under a contract with The Nationa!
Science Foundation
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