LNT Remarks

["Cummings, Frederick" <CUMMINFM@inel.gov>]

     Hi, all,

     What an interesting thread this Lin-No-Thresh has been.  I couldn't
     help asking what I think is an associated question to further stir the
     waters (and show my ignorance of the basic question.)

     Is cancer a one-step process caused by a single 'carcinogen'?  What
     basis should be used to determine causality, even for cancers which
     are considered 'radiogenic' in origin (from high dose studies?)

     I seems to me that the reason that carcinogenicity is observed at high
     doses lies in the fact that radiation can interact with tissue as an
     initiator and as an immunosuppressant.  At lower doses, the spatial
     and temporal distribution of dose may not coincide to the extent that
     cancer can be produced by the radiation alone.  I think that this
     probably holds for many of the chemical compounds that are currently
     labelled carcinogenic.

     Another confounding factor which comes to mind is the temporal
     distribuion of dose itself.  If sufficient radiation is present to
     disrupt the proteins used to regulate the frequency of cell division
     during the time that the affected cells are in recovery from the
     division process, then perhaps the cell division rate may be affected
     in an adverse way causing decreasing functionality and differentiation
     in future generations of daughter (or son) cells.

     These are just a few thoughts.  Please help me out.  Are these random
     wanderings of a mad man, or just plain half-truths?

     Rick Cummings
     cumminfm@inel.gov

     *** The remarks above are too ridiculous to be considered damaging to
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