combined at radiation dose levels greater than about 200 mSv (31).
3.3.2.1 Radiogenic Tumors
Although all tissues are considered to be susceptible to radiogenic tumorigenesis, some
tumors have been shown to be more strongly associated with prior radiation exposure than
others. Based on current epidemiologic data, tumor types most strongly associated with

exposure to radiation are benign thyroid nodules, all types of leukemia, except the chronic
lymphocytic type, and cancers of the lung, female breast and thyroid. Exposure to
radiation from certain internally deposited radionuclides also has been associated

unequivocally with malignancies of target organ tissues, significantly thyroid (radioactive
iodines), lung (radon) and bone (radium), and leukemia and lungin the case of injected
Thorotrast. Theradiogenicity of malignancies of the head and neck (other than thyroid),
digestive and genito-urinary systems, brain and the central nervous system, and skin
appears to be weaker than is the case for the malignancies listed above; and it is equivocal
or unidentified for certain site-specific malignancies within these organ systems, such as
Hodgkins lymphomaand cancers of the uterus and prostate (2).
Although there have been some suggestions to the contrary, there is to date no strong
evidence of increased cancer rates among children or adults who were exposed to
radiation in utero (26).
3.3.2.2 Latent Periods and Duration of Increased Risks

Based on the epidemiologic data, the minimum latent periods (interval between exposure
and diagnosis) for. radiation-induced leukemia and solid cancers are generally accepted to

be 2-5 years, and 10 years, respectively. The increased risk of radiogenic leukemia appears
to decrease almost to the natural baseline rate for the control population 25-30 years postexposure. However, the risk for most solid cancers remains substantially elevated for at

least 40 years post-exposure (2).

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