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Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The U.S. government recently implemented rules for awarding compensation to individuals with cancer who were exposed to ionizing radiation while working in the nuclear weapons complex. Under these rules, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered to be a nonradiogenic form of cancer. In other...

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Autores principales: Richardson, David B., Wing, Steve, Schroeder, Jane, Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge, Hoffmann, Wolfgang
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences 2005
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15626639
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7433
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author Richardson, David B.
Wing, Steve
Schroeder, Jane
Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge
Hoffmann, Wolfgang
author_facet Richardson, David B.
Wing, Steve
Schroeder, Jane
Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge
Hoffmann, Wolfgang
author_sort Richardson, David B.
collection PubMed
description The U.S. government recently implemented rules for awarding compensation to individuals with cancer who were exposed to ionizing radiation while working in the nuclear weapons complex. Under these rules, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered to be a nonradiogenic form of cancer. In other words, workers who develop CLL automatically have their compensation claim rejected because the compensation rules hold that the risk of radiation-induced CLL is zero. In this article we review molecular, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence regarding the radiogenicity of CLL. We note that current understanding of radiation-induced tumorigenesis and the etiology of lymphatic neoplasia provides a strong mechanistic basis for expecting that ionizing radiation exposure increases CLL risk. The clinical characteristics of CLL, including prolonged latency and morbidity periods and a low case fatality rate, make it relatively difficult to evaluate associations between ionizing radiation and CLL risk via epidemiologic methods. The epidemiologic evidence of association between external exposure to ionizing radiation and CLL is weak. However, epidemiologic findings are consistent with a hypothesis of elevated CLL mortality risk after a latency and morbidity period that spans several decades. Our findings in this review suggest that there is not a persuasive basis for the conclusion that CLL is a nonradiogenic form of cancer.
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spelling pubmed-12537012005-11-08 Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Richardson, David B. Wing, Steve Schroeder, Jane Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge Hoffmann, Wolfgang Environ Health Perspect Research The U.S. government recently implemented rules for awarding compensation to individuals with cancer who were exposed to ionizing radiation while working in the nuclear weapons complex. Under these rules, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is considered to be a nonradiogenic form of cancer. In other words, workers who develop CLL automatically have their compensation claim rejected because the compensation rules hold that the risk of radiation-induced CLL is zero. In this article we review molecular, clinical, and epidemiologic evidence regarding the radiogenicity of CLL. We note that current understanding of radiation-induced tumorigenesis and the etiology of lymphatic neoplasia provides a strong mechanistic basis for expecting that ionizing radiation exposure increases CLL risk. The clinical characteristics of CLL, including prolonged latency and morbidity periods and a low case fatality rate, make it relatively difficult to evaluate associations between ionizing radiation and CLL risk via epidemiologic methods. The epidemiologic evidence of association between external exposure to ionizing radiation and CLL is weak. However, epidemiologic findings are consistent with a hypothesis of elevated CLL mortality risk after a latency and morbidity period that spans several decades. Our findings in this review suggest that there is not a persuasive basis for the conclusion that CLL is a nonradiogenic form of cancer. National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences 2005-01 2004-10-21 /pmc/articles/PMC1253701/ /pubmed/15626639 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7433 Text en http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged (for example, ?Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives?); pertinent reference information should be provided for the article from which the material was reproduced. Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
spellingShingle Research
Richardson, David B.
Wing, Steve
Schroeder, Jane
Schmitz-Feuerhake, Inge
Hoffmann, Wolfgang
Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title_full Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title_fullStr Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title_full_unstemmed Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title_short Ionizing Radiation and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
title_sort ionizing radiation and chronic lymphocytic leukemia
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253701/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15626639
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7433
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