Experts clash over cancer data

Article Abstract:

Is cancer a more serious problem now than it was 20 years ago? The answer is a frightening ''yes'' or an encouraging ''no,'' depending on which experts one asks. An account of the two main schools of thought on this subject is presented. At issue are not only health concerns, but also economic and policy questions concerning the appropriate focus of scientific efforts. Devra Lee Davis, scholar in residence at the National Academy of Sciences, and her colleagues believe that cancer is increasing in the US and five other industrialized countries. These conclusions appeared in an August 1990 issue of the British journal, The Lancet. Opposing this view are Sir Richard Doll and Richard Peto, of Oxford, and Bruce Ames, of the University of California, Berkeley. They claim that cancer epidemiologic patterns have not changed significantly in the past two decades, but that methods of detection and reporting have improved significantly. The two camps have been at odds for at least 10 years, disagreeing not over the data themselves, but over their interpretation. Davis and Peto each find supporters in epidemiological circles. A major source of disagreement is the interpretation of data for specific types of cancer. Debate has focused on whether rates for young people (decreasing, in most cases) or older people (increasing) should be taken as reflecting true cancer incidence; on the effect on cancer statistics of improved diagnostic methods for brain tumors and breast cancer; on why the melanoma incidence (a lethal type of skin cancer) is increasing (the result of overexposure to the sun as children, says Peto); and on why multiple myeloma (a blood cell cancer) is also increasing (again, the result of enhanced medical awareness for problems of older people). Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (a malignancy of lymphatic tissue) is increasing for reasons that are unclear to both sides of the epidemiological debate. After 20 years of the ''War on Cancer,'' experts cannot seem to agree on whether the battles have been successful. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Mortality, Epidemiological research, Cross sectional studies, Disease reporting, Peto, Richard, Davis, Devra Lee, Doll, Richard, Ames, Bruce

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Radiation exposure: hot legacy of the cold war

Article Abstract:

A series of articles has appeared in the Soviet science magazine Priroda that has caught the attention of Western physicists. The articles concern the secret history of the Soviet nuclear industry and relate the sad story of the exposure of nuclear workers to massive doses of radiation. The doses reached levels as high as 100 rem per year (approximately 20 times the allowed dose for a worker in the United States today) in the late 1940s and early 1950s. While the effects of these high exposure levels cannot be definitively known, 8 to 9 percent of those who began working before 1958 and who received even higher doses are now dead of cancer. An additional one-fourth of the workers employed during the period between 1950 and 1952 were reported to have 'chronic radiation disease', which probably refers to blood diseases. New safety standards were developed in 1952, but were not adhered to strictly in the event of emergency situations. Robots were not available for work in the 'hottest' areas, and these most hazardous jobs must have been performed by staff members. The May issue of Priroda included a description of an explosion at a nuclear waste dump in 1957. It will soon be translated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Officials and employees, Nuclear industry, Nuclear power plants, Soviet Union, Radiation injuries

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U.S., Russia to study radiation effects

Article Abstract:

Russia and the US have signed an agreement to conduct a major research project on the health effects of long-term radiation exposure on Russians living near the Techa River. The project may lead to new risk estimates for radiation exposure.

United States, Russia, United States foreign relations, Russian foreign relations, Radioactive pollution, Radioecology, Radioactive pollution of water, Radioactive water pollution

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