INCREASED RISK OF DEATH IN THOROTRAST-EXPOSED PATIENTS DURING THE LATE FOLLOW-UP PERIOD

  • 1 November 1987
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 78  (11) , 1187-1192
Abstract
To evaluate the effects of continuous low-level ionizing radiation on humans, the follow-up data (1980-85) on Japanese thorotrast-exposed patients were analyzed. The patients were 241 war-wounded military personnel registered with and cared for by the Ministry of Health and Welfare since 1979. During this period, a total of 1144 persons-years, 94 patients died. Compared with the expected number of deaths calculated from age- and cause-specific death rates in Japan during the same period, the thorotrast-exposed patients were at three times greater risk of death from all causes (P < 0.001), had 47 times the risk of liver cancer (P < 0.001), 12 times the risk of leukemia (P < 0.05), and 20 times the risk of liver cirrhosis (P < 0.001). Age at time of thorotrast injection, drinking and smoking habits had little effect on these statistics. Analyses of 30 autopsied patients with liver cancer showed statistically significantly increases in hemangiosarcoma and cholangiocarcinoma. The thorotrast-exposed patients'' estimated risk of liver cancer by histological type was 21 times that of the general population for hepatocellular carcinoma, 303 times that for cholangiocarcinoma and 3129 times that for hemangiosarcoma.