Human Radiation Injury is a concise but thorough presentation of known toxicities of radiation exposure in humans. This unique text is the only single reference available that studies the risks to humans from medical, environmental, and accidental or terrorist-related exposure to radiation. The chapters cover modern understanding of the molecular and cellular events involved in radiation injury, the known dose-effect relationships for human organ systems, and a full discussion of normal tissue toxicity related to therapeutic radiation. Recommended guidelines are outlined and the best available treatments following injury are also detailed. A companion website offers the fully searchable text and an image bank.

This book reevaluates the health risks of ionizing radiation in light of data that have become available since the 1980 report on this subject was published. The data include new, much more reliable dose estimates for the A-bomb survivors, the results of an additional 14 years of follow-up of the survivors for cancer mortality, recent results of follow-up studies of persons irradiated for medical purposes, and results of relevant experiments with laboratory animals and cultured cells. It analyzes the data in terms of risk estimates for specific organs in relation to dose and time after exposure, and compares radiation effects between Japanese and Western populations.

This publication focuses on the medical management of individuals involved in radiation emergencies, especially those who have been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation. Its primary objective is to provide practical information, to be used for treatment decisions by medical personnel during a radiation emergency. It also addresses general and specific measures for the medical management of individuals who have been internally contaminated with radionuclides. This publication is complementary to other publications developed by the IAEA in the medical area of radiation emergencies.

This book is the seventh in a series of titles from the National Research Council that addresses the effects of exposure to low dose LET (Linear Energy Transfer) ionizing radiation and human health. Updating information previously presented in the 1990 publication, Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR V, this book draws upon new data in both epidemiologic and experimental research. Ionizing radiation arises from both natural and man-made sources and at very high doses can produce damaging effects in human tissue that can be evident within days after exposure. However, it is the low-dose exposures that are the focus of this book. So-called “late” effects, such as cancer, are produced many years after the initial exposure. This book is among the first of its kind to include detailed risk estimates for cancer incidence in addition to cancer mortality. BEIR VII offers a full review of the available biological, biophysical, and epidemiological literature since the last BEIR report on the subject and develops the most up-to-date and comprehensive risk estimates for cancer and other health effects from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as an important innovative treatment for various primary and metastatic cancers. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the physical/technological, biological, and clinical aspects of SBRT. It will serve as a detailed resource for this rapidly developing treatment modality. The organ sites covered include lung, liver, spine, pancreas, prostate, adrenal, head and neck, and female reproductive tract. Retrospective studies and prospective clinical trials on SBRT for various organ sites from around the world are examined, and toxicities and normal tissue constraints are discussed. This book features unique insights from world-renowned experts in SBRT from North America, Asia, and Europe. It will be necessary reading for radiation oncologists, radiation oncology residents and fellows, medical physicists, medical physics residents, medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, and cancer scientists.

In October 1982, a small international symposium was held at the Gesellschaft fUr Strahlen- und Umweltforschung mbH (GSF) in Munich as a satellite meeting of the IX International Conference on Analytical Cytology. The symposium focussed on cytometric approaches to biological dosimetry, and was, to the best of our knowledge, the first meeting on this subject ever held. There was strong encouragement from the 75 attendees and from others to publish a proceedings of the symposium. Hence this book, containing 30 of the 36 presentations, has been assembled. Dosimetry, the accurate and systematic determination of doses, usually refers to grams of substance administered or rads of ionization or some such measure of exposure of a patient, a victim or an experimental system. The term also can be used to describe the quantity of an ultimate, active agent as delivered to the appropriate target material within a biological system. Thus, for mutagens, one can speak of DNA dosimetry, meaning the number of adducts produced in the DNA of target cells such as bone-mar row stem cells or spermatogonia.

Does radiation medicine need more regulation or simply better-coordinated regulation? This book addresses this and other questions of critical importance to public health and safety. The issues involved are high on the nation's agenda: the impact of radiation on public safety, the balance between federal and state authority, and the cost-benefit ratio of regulation. Although incidents of misadministration are rare, a case in Pennsylvania resulting in the death of a patient and the inadvertent exposure of others to a high dose of radiation drew attention to issues concerning the regulation of ionizing radiation in medicine and the need to examine current regulatory practices. Written at the request from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Radiation in Medicine reviews the regulation of ionizing radiation in medicine, focusing on the NRC's Medical Use Program, which governs the use of reactor-generated byproduct materials. The committee recommends immediate action on enforcement and provides longer term proposals for reform of the regulatory system. The volume covers: Sources of radiation and their use in medicine. Levels of risk to patients, workers, and the public. Current roles of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, other federal agencies, and states. Criticisms from the regulated community. The committee explores alternative regulatory structures for radiation medicine and explains the rationale for the option it recommends in this volume. Based on extensive research, input from the regulated community, and the collaborative efforts of experts from a range of disciplines, Radiation in Medicine will be an important resource for federal and state policymakers and regulators, health professionals involved in radiation treatment, developers and producers of radiation equipment, insurance providers, and concerned laypersons.