[en] A 45-year-old woman case of postirradiation fibrosarcoma on the buttock was reported. She died of metastases of the tumor to the lung and subclavicular lymph nodes which occured two years after onset. By light and electron microscopic study, the final diagnosis was fibrosarcoma. It is emphasized that fibrosarcoma should be carefully determined refering its characteristics and differentiating them from other fibrous tumors such as dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, granuloma pyogenicum and fibrous histiocytoma. (auth.)

[en] A 65-year-old man, who was exposed to an atomic bomb in Nagasaki 1945, developed an ulcerated tumor on his right upper back in 1995. A squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was ascertained histopathologically, not only in the back skin but also the right axillary lymph node. Neither of his face nor back skin showed characteristic color changes responsible for actinic damage. Furthermore it is well-known that SCC occurs rarely in the trunk. These facts do not explain any susceptability of the occurrence of SCC to his back skin. Even though it has passed as many as fifty years after the tragedy by the atomic bomb, the exposure of the extremely huge amount of rays might cause a tumorigenesis. (author)

[en] Among a total of 65,268 Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors recorded in the Scientific Data Center of Atomic Bomb Disaster, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 140 cases with skin cancer were collected from 31 hospitals in Nagasaki City from 1961 through 1987. Subsequently, these cases of skin cancer in Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors were statistically analyzed in relation to the estimated distance from the hypocenter by age, sex, histology and latent period. The results were as follows: (1) A high correlation was observed between the incidence of skin cancer and the distance from the hypocenter. (2) The incidence of skin cancer in Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors now appears to be increasing in relation to exposure distance. (3) Among 140 cases, basal cell epithelioma was observed in 67 cases (47.9%) and squamous cell carcinoma in 43 cases (30.7%). (author)

[en] To see the damage of DNA due to ultraviolet-B more distinctly, immunoelectron microscopic studies using a monoclonal antibody against cyclobutane-type thymine dimers were performed. As a result, we could detect the existence of thymine dimers on human genomic DNA and pUC18 plasmid DNA visually. This technique can be useful to locate the photoproducts formed on DNA. (Author)

[en] Among a total of 66,276 atomic bomb survivors recorded in the Scientific Data Center of Atomic Bomb Disaster, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, 140 cases of skin cancer were collected from 31 hospitals in Nagasaki City; and they were statistically analyzed in respect to the estimated distance from the hypocenter, age, sex, histology, and latent period. The results were as follows: 1. A high correlation was obsreved between the incidence of skin cancer and the exposure distance. 2. The incidence of skin cancer in Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors now appears to be increasing in relation to the exposure distance. (author)

[en] To clarify the effect of atomic bomb exposure on the skin, a cytogenetic study of cultured cells of the skin was performed. In non-exposed controls, only a few chromosomal aberrations were found. On the other hand, in A-bomb survivors, chromosomal aberrations such as translocation, deletion and inversion, which seem to have occurred at A-bomb exposure, were obseved. The percentage of cells with chromosomal aberrations was high among A-bomb survivors proximally exposed. In some of these A-bomb survivors, a clonal formation of cells with the same abnormal karyotype was observed. The above facts may indicate that considerable DNA damage of skin cells could have been induced by A-bomb exposure and that some of these cells formed clones thereafter. Based on these findings, it is deemed necessary to carry out a skin cancer survey on all A-bomb survivors. (author)

[en] In Report 1 of this series, we suspected that the incidence of skin cancer in Nagasaki A-bomb survivors might have increased based on evidence of chromosomal aberrations and clonal formations in cultured skin cells. In Report 2, we described the results of a preliminary study using 110 cases of skin cancer collected from the three major hospitals in Nagasaki City (Nagasaki University Hospital, A-bomb Hospital and Citizens Hospital). In that study a high correlation was observed between the incidence of skin cancer and exposure distance in the analysis of all 110 cases and of the 50 male cases (p<0.01), but no such correlation was noted in a separate analysis of the 60 female cases. In this report, 140 cases of skin cancer collected from 31 hospitals in Nagasaki City and adjacent districts were statistically analyzed in respect to the estimated distance from the hypocenter, using the data of a total of 66,276 A-bomb survivors recorded in the Scientific Data Center of the Atomic Bomb Disaster, Nagasaki University School of Medicine. The results disclosed a high correlation between the incidence of skin cancer and the exposure distance (p<0.01). In addition, this correlation was the same even when the cases were analyzed separately according to sex. (author)

[en] We previously reported that there was a high correlation between the exposure dose and the incidence of skin cancer in A-bomb survivors using the data of the Nagasaki Life Span Study of Radiation Effects Research Foundation and Nagasaki Tumor Registry. In Report 3 of this series, we clarified that the correlation between the exposure distance and the incidence of skin cancer was statistically significant in 140 cases of skin cancer collected from 31 hospitals in Nagasaki City and adjacent districts on the basis of the data of the total 66,276 A-bomb survivors recorded in the Scientific Data Center of Atomic Bomb Disaster, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, and that the correlation was the same even when the cases were divided by sex. In this report, we examined the chronological change of the incidence of skin cancer in Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, using the data of the Scientific Data Center of Atomic Bomb Disaster. It is likely that the incidence of skin cancer in Nagasaki A-bomb survivors has increased after 1962, especially after 1975 in those exposed within 2.5km from the hypocenter compared to those exposed at 3.0km or more. (author)

[en] Of 20,348 persons included in the extended Life Span Study in Nagasaki, 59 persons were registered as having skin tumors during the years 1955 - 1984. Included in this study were 40 patients with histologically proven skin cancer. Thirty five patients were considered to be exposed to ≥ one cGy. There was statistically significant correlation between the incidence of skin cancer and exposure doses in both men and women (p < 0.01). Overall, the incidence of skin cancer was significantly correlated as well with the distance from the hypocenter; however, this was not significant when restricted to either men or women. Because the incidence of skin cancer has definitively increased since 1955 among A-bomb survivors, follow-up of A-bomb survivors is warranted with respect to atomic bomb-related skin cancer. (Namekawa, K.)

[en] In Report 1 of this series, we described that, in the cultured cells of skin tissues, chromosomal aberrations seemingly induced by A-bomb exposure were observed in Nagasaki A-bomb survivors, especially in those proximally exposed, and some of these cells with chromosomal aberrations formed clones. Based on these findings, we suspected that the incidence of skin cancer in A-bomb survivors might have increased. In this study, we tried to clarify the incidence of skin cancer among Nagasaki A-bomb survivors using the data of a total of 66,276 A-bomb survivors recorded at the Scientific Data Center of the Atomic Bomb Disaster, Nagasaki University School of Medicine. One hundred and ten cases of skin cancer were collected from the three major hospitals in Nagasaki City and were statistically analyzed in respect to the estimated distance from the hypocenter. The results were as follows: A high correlation was observed between the incidence of skin cancer and exposure distance in the analysis of all 110 cases and of the 50 male cases (p<0.01). However, no such correlation was observed in a separate analysis of the 60 female cases. (author)