A team of researchers, including scientists from Hiroshima University, has identified a gene that acts to suppress the onset of leukemia and other blood cancers even after DNA damage caused by exposure to radiation, according to a study published in a U.S. scientific journal.
The team believes that the loss of the Samd9L gene through aging and other causes contributes to the triggering of leukemia decades after a person is exposed to radiation, according to the latest edition of the Cancer Cell magazine published Monday.
"Many atomic-bomb survivors develop leukemia more than half a century after the bombing. We have identified a reason why (radiation exposures) have a long-term effect," said Toshiya Inaba, a Hiroshima University professor involved in the study.