MORTALITY FROM LEUKEMIA AFTER IRRADIATION IN INFANCY FOR SKIN HEMANGIOMA

From 1920 through 1959, 14,624 infants were exposed to ionizing radiat ion for skin hemangioma at Radiumhemmet. They were all less than 18 mo nths old (mean 6 months) at the time of first exposure. The irradiated hemangiomas were located all over the body. The weighted bone marrow dose was on average 0.13 Gy (range <0.01-4.6 Gy). During the period 19 20-1986, 20 deaths from leukemia (11 childhood and 9 adult) were obser ved in the cohort compared with 17 expected during the same period. Th ere were no significant associations between childhood leukemia and ra diation dose. Despite the relatively large number of infants studied, the low average dose to bone marrow limited the possibility of detecti ng a small radiation risk as might be predicted from other radiation s tudies. (C) 1996 by Radiation Research Society