Evaluation of adverse events in atomic bomb survivors receiving curative-intent radiation therapy from 2005 to 2010

Radiother Oncol. 2016 Jan;118(1):60-4. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2015.11.024. Epub 2015 Dec 19.

Abstract

Background and purpose: To evaluate the safety of radiation therapy (RT) in atomic bomb (A-bomb) survivors (ABS), we evaluated the frequency of RT-associated adverse events (AEs) in ABS.

Materials and methods: We selected patients who underwent curative external-beam RT (EBRT) at Hiroshima University Hospital between January 2005 and December 2010 and were born before August 1946; the patients were divided into ABS and non-ABS groups, which groups received identical treatments without stratification.

Results: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 220 ABS and 753 non-ABS patients. The median age was 72 years. The median observation durations were 41 and 37 months for the ABS and non-ABS groups, respectively. The ABS group had higher frequencies of women, breast cancer patients, and concurrent chemotherapy and had a lower incidence of only acute hematological AEs. However this tendency disappeared when breast cancer patients were excluded, and no significant differences were observed between the ABS and non-ABS groups regarding Grade ⩾ 3 other acute and late AEs. The overall cumulative incidence of Grade ⩾ 3 late AEs did not significantly differ between the ABS and non-ABS groups.

Conclusions: Notable increases in AEs were not observed during or after RT among ABS. This study clarified that stratification is not required when treating ABS with RT.

Keywords: Adverse events; Atomic bomb survivors; Radiation therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Neoplasms / radiotherapy*
  • Nuclear Weapons*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survivors / statistics & numerical data*