Since the first case of atom-bomb leukemia described in 1951 by Misao
et al., numerous reports have followed and their statistical data have confirmed a significantly high incidence of leukemia among survivors compared with that seen among non-exposed subjects. This paper described all cases of leukemias and allied diseases hitherto experienced at our Department of Medicine, Kyushu University.
Case 1 was an acute monocytic leukemia which developed about 2 months after A-bomb explosion in Nagasaki—the first case of A-bomb leukemias in the world. Case 2, a chronic, myelocytic leukemia, developed about 7 years after the explosion in Hiroshima. Both patients showed an immediate, acute symptom, such as fever, epilation, etc., after the explosion, once recovered from it and then developed a leukemia. In these 2 cases, it might be considered that there was certain relationship between radiation damage of hematopoietic organs by A-bombing, followed by their over-regeneration, and development of leukemia. Case 3, an acute myelocytic leukemia, case 4, an acute lymphocytic leukemia and case 5, a reticulosarcomatosis, developed 9, 11, and 12 years after the A-bombing, respectively. Cases 4 and 5 were thought to be due to secondary irradiation, because the patients had entered Hiroshima, walking around the hypocentric area for several to 20 hours.
View full abstract