Long-term radiation-related health effects in a unique human population: lessons learned from the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For 63 years scientists in the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and its successor, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, have been assessing the long-term health effects in the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and in their children. The identification and follow-up of a large population (approximately a total of 200,000, of whom more than 40% are alive today) that includes a broad range of ages and radiation exposure doses, and healthy representatives of both sexes; establishment of well-defined cohorts whose members have been studied longitudinally, including some with biennial health examinations and a high survivor-participation rate; and careful reconstructions of individual radiation doses have resulted in reliable excess relative risk estimates for radiation-related health effects, including cancer and noncancer effects in humans, for the benefit of the survivors and for all humankind. This article reviews those risk estimates and summarizes what has been learned from this historic and unique study.

T-cell immunosenescence and inflammatory response in atomic bomb survivors.

In this paper we summarize the long-term effects of A-bomb radiation on the T-cell system and discuss the possible involvement of attenuated T-cell immunity in the disease development observed in A-bomb survivors. Our previous observations on such effects include impaired mitogen-dependent proliferation and IL-2 production, decreases in naive T-cell populations, and increased proportions of anergic and functionally weak memory CD4 T-cell subsets. In addition, we recently found a radiation dose-dependent increase in the percentages of CD25(+)/CD127(-) regulatory T cells in the CD4 T-cell population of the survivors.

Biodegradable cisplatin polymer in limb-sparing surgery for canine osteosarcoma.

Background: The rate of local recurrence of osteosarcoma after limb-sparing surgery in dogs and humans has been reported up to 28%. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether a biodegradable cisplatin-containing implant (OPLA-Pt), inserted into the limb-sparing surgery site at the time of surgery, would decrease the rate of local recurrence. Secondary aims included evaluation of systemic toxicity associated with the release of cisplatin from the implant and identification of prognostic factors associated with limb-sparing surgery for osteosarcoma in dogs.

The status of the seventh report in the series Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations and a revised dosimetry for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation's A-bomb studies.

Results of a National Academies workshop and feasibility study led US Governmental agencies to request the Board on Radiation Effects Research of the National Research Council to commence a risk assessment study in 1998 as the seventh report in the series Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiations (BEIR VII). Originally targeted for completion in the autumn of 2001, the study Potential Health Effects of Exposure to Low Dose, Low-LET Ionizing Radiation was extended until the autumn of 2003 at the request of the sponsors. Two factors contributing to this decision are discussed: a revised dosimetry to update DS86 for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation's A-bomb-survivor studies and the potential for new information to become available from low-dose studies that are under way.