W. H. ADAMS: LATE MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF EXPOSURE TO RADIOACTIVE
-ES
\ND TIME
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incidence has been viewed as evidence of improvedoverall health of some populations because it
reflects improvements in longevity. Third, in attempting to determine whether there has been an
increase in cancer deaths in the exposed Marshallese it should be noted that from 1950-1985 there
had been 5936 cancer deaths among 75,991 A-bombsurvivors. Three hundred andforty of these
(6% of the total cancer deaths) are thoughtto be attributable to the 1945 radiation exposure (21).
Table 7
Fatal cancers, exposed and unexposed groups
Rongelap/Utirik
Comparison
Ovary
Hepatoma (7)
Cervix (7)
Leukemia, acute
Uterus (?)
Cervix (7)
Leukemia, acute
Breast
Stomach
Lymphoma(?)
Hepatoma
Lung
toid following radiation
Breast
Colon (7)
*r, the thyroid-absorbed
Central nervous system
Central nervous system
Lung
ure 5 is that the time for
(7) = Diagnosis not confirmed
‘ies directly with age at
The small number of the exposed Marshallese, the smaller number of cancer deaths, and the
naturally occurring fluctuations in cancer incidence will makestatistical detection of any excess
ipply an epidemiologic
Marshall Islands medical
cancer mortality impossible in this population.
Five of 26 deaths among the 86 persons in the exposed Rongelap population have been
atolls where the exposed
recorded as due to cancer, If these diagnoses are correct, then 19% of total mortality over 36 years
erbal accounts of health
has been due to cancer. In comparison, cancer accounts for 22% of.total mortality in the U.S. In
death certificates at the
the unexposed Marshallese group examined by the medical program, eight of 63 known deaths
vailable information on
(13%) may have been due to malignant disease. The types of lethal cancers which have been
areas where health care
diagnosedare given in Table 7. [t is pertinent that the most frequently lethal cancers in the U.S. are
lung, breast, colon and leukemia/lymphoma. The frequency of different cancers induced by whole-
ncdan increase in cancer
285
2012505