Persistent chromosome aberrations in the somatic cells of A-bomb survivors, Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Current status of knowledge on the radiation-induced chromosome aberrations persisting since their induction in 1945 to date in the somatic cells of A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is reviewed. Dose-response relationship for chromosome aberration frequencies observed with the use of the old A-bomb dosimetry system (T65D) is also demonstrable based on the new dosimetry system (DS86). Despite the fact that the remarkable decrease in the amount of neutron component relative to the total dose in Hiroshima, there still exist inter-city differences in aberration frequency per unit dose both for kerma and bone marrow dose; the dose-square term is smaller in Hiroshima than in Nagasaki. The differential contribution of neutron radiation may be responsible in some part for the observed difference between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although proof still remains to be obtained. There is a wide variability of the frequency of cells with chromosome aberrations between survivors within a given dose range. Random errors in the dose estimates assigned to individual survivors seem responsible, to a large extent, for the observed overdispersions in aberration frequencies in both cities. New molecular biology-oriented techniques to differentially stain specific chromosomes using fluorescence in situ hybridization with chromosome-specific composite DNA probes seem extremely promising for future rapid, accurate and extensive screening of reciprocal translocations observed predominantly in A-bomb survivors. Such data may be utilized to establish a better biological dosimetry system, especially for those persons who are irradiated in vivo many years before cytogenetic examinations.