othe ae "el x 2 . ‘Ot - . ‘' . i ee ww # es RD re Flas ‘o> Yoae . : bet pe ey wat teee Ue ead an’ “ =, abate + ; Ww. H. ADAMS: LATE MEDICAL CONSEQUENCESOF EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE gn nodule diagnosis in RONGELA?P + SIFO ymas have occurred in th it is highly debatable rmanyindicated occult ‘no predilection for age the occurrence ofthese arshallese. Most thyroid ariety. The mortality of 39 Occult cancers cancers (59%) “ 1 - l ] kek 5k 0 \ l fl Q (10%) 7“ 10 \ 20 1 3006=—COO0 3 ‘yO 1 10 20 30 The accrual of cases with thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer in the exposed Rongelap groupincludes those exposed in utero. treated papillary thyroid canceris relatively low, about 4%, with those persons less than 40 years of age at the time of diagnosis having a better prognosis. The cumulative experience of benign plus malignant nodule development as a function of age at exposure showsclearly the increased susceptibility of the younger population to nodule induction (Figure 4). It was noted that the ratio of thyroid carcinomas to benign nodules was .15, somewhat lowerthan the ratio of .30 reported following medical x-ray therapy (20). it appears that there is an inverse correlation between the radiation dose absorbed by the thyroid and the time after exposure for development of the benign adenomatous nodules (Figure 5). However, since the thyroid-absorbed radiation dose was determined primarily by age at exposure f= a 283 ‘enteeiediclt ollicular carcinoma. The \ population as a function of age at the time of exposure in 1954. The <10 year-old crt cal adenoma | YEARS AFTER 1954 oe ‘ently as 1976. L NN iodules: n group since 1957. (25%) (14%) “ 0 Figure 4. exposed. $ = PAPILLARY CANCER >18 YR 2* KK* ind 3 from Utink. T 4 10-18 YR 6 hologists, two different q Oe ot oe me - ! * = ? FOLLICULAR CANCER 5 f- - ‘<1oyR_ UTIRIK ° CUMULATIVE CASES WITH THYROID NODULES ipl > no propensity to cause Follicular TT 20 f- sulated, are, with rare | ace | | IN 4 1 1954 |