Comment on "Incidence of Salivary Gland Tumors among Atomic Bomb Survivors, 1950-1987. Evaluation of Radiation-Related Risk" by Land et al. (Radiat. Res. 146, 28-36, 1996)

Abstract

In a recent article on the incidence of salivary gland tumors among A-bomb survivors, Land et al. reported significant increases in risk with increasing A-bomb dose avd found that most of the dose response was produced by malignant mucoepidermoid tumors and benign Warthin's tumors (1). With respect to these two histologies, we reanalyzed case-control data from a Los Angeles County study of tumors of the parotid gland (about 80% of salivary gland tumors arise in the parotid glands) diagnosed between 1976 and 1984 (2), the largest study of salivary gland tumors to date, designed to assess the risk of medical and dental radiography. Radiation treatment to the head or neck at least 5 years prior to diagnosis was used as a simple dichotomous exposure with which to test the histologyspecific hypothesis. Risk was highest but was not limited to malignant mucoepidermoid tumors (Table I); none of the benign tumors were Warthin's tumor. Thus our data provide limited support for the conclusions of the A-bomb survivor study of salivary gland tumors and radiation risk. TABLE I