Iatrogenic leukemia

Acute leukemia of non-lymphocytic origin has been studied during the last 30 years and many cases can be attributed to an external cause. Excessive exposure to ionising radiation is one such cause. Evidence from survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks is cited. Radioactive phosphorus work is described on patients suffering from polycythaemia vera (Vaquez-Osler disease). References are included to research work recently in hand on Hodgkins disease, Kahlers disease, ovarian cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Some treatment techniques using chemical therapy are quoted, together with the names of the substances involved in the treatment. (G.C.)