Ex-chief of Fukushima nuclear plant has cancer: TEPCO

Most probably his illness is not related to radiation exposure.

Major cause of esophagus cancer is alcohol. Even moderate drinkers can develop esophagus cancer. People who show flushing response to alcohol have an increased risk, this is due to a deficiency in ALDH2 enzyme and it is quite common among North-Eastern Asians.

Smoking and consumption of salty food increase the risk.

Perhaps he enjoyed whale sashima once too often as well. I joke, but it is a sad story. And I stand by my statement that this article is, as usual, missing crucial causative factors in his life, so the rest of us just go one guessing and hypothesizing.

95% of cancers caused by cigarettes are caused by the radioactive elements polonium and radioactive lead, which are being added to the tobacco fields as fertilizer to enhance flavor. So even if one smokes and gets cancer? It was STILL caused by radiation.

As for Yoshida, he has worked at a nuclear plant for years, where radioactive emissions of "acceptable" levels are allowed to go on day after day. That compounds within the body of the exposed individual and whala-cancer. Either way you look at it-RADIATION causes MOST cancers.

Poetic justice perhaps !

This may be KARMA coming back to haunt TEPCO!

Lucky him

TEPCO believes “it is extremely unlikely that his disease was caused by radiation exposure,” she said, citing the advice of a doctor at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences.

Translation: He was faking his health until last month--even before 03/11.

She may be right on this with the exception that directing the nuclear engineer staff and working crews in an extremely stressful and dangerous environment for 8 months is strong force to indicate the warning to the impact of one’s health no matter what condition it is.

Notice how CONVENIENTLY they left out Cigarettes and Alcohol as the possible culprit for his cancer. They wouldn't want to hurt Japan Tobacco and the Breweries sales now, would they?

Most of us believe that smoking and heavy alcohol use might lead to throat or esophagial cancer. If you include exposure to radiation over several years, it could possibly speed up that condition. He may have been exposed to radiation over the years at plants. This part is unkown. It sure is ironic though.

Let's face it - the "experts" all just say that radiation is "bad" but there is no quantum qualitative definitive analysis of how much exposure results to which kinds of cancer!!! After all, this is just one of the few occasions when mankind has faced such an onslaught and there are no definitive medical statistics to substantiate whatever findings. Maybe after all this Fukushima/Chernobyl data, our great grandchildren (if we still have any) may benefit from all these findings! BUT one thing is true though - each and every individual has his/her own degree of tolerance/immunity and even now after ages of practising medicine, the doctors still cannot say how much longer a terminal patient has to live...

So - this limit/threshold of 100 milliSieverts is HOGWASH - it's just an arbitrary value plucked out of the air - that's why TEPCO can afford to just raise it to 250 - what's in a number anyway?

esophagus is close to the thyroid

But if TEPCO insists that it is not related to radiation, isn't that a good enough reason to wonder? [Grin] Then if the government jumps in to agree, that would almost be proof....[Big Grin]

Remember nuclear power is safe and never dangerous. After all TEMPCO ad the Japanese government have said so for years and they would never lie to us. Would they? Just like they informed us of the design errors, as did GE and the American government..... oh wait a minute they didn't do that. I would hate to blame them for something that they never did, like be completely truthful and above board and eager to give us the latest accurate information. We would not want to unfairly suspect them of being honorable people nor ever think that safety was ever more important than the bottom line.

Remember the only morality of a corporation is the provide the highest possible profit to its shareholders. Oh dear they didn't even keep that one did they? But we could not put them in prison as the government has not built one posh enough for people of their economic and political stature. Maybe the government can divert some more of the aid money and relief money from this disaster for building a properly posh prison like they did to help the whaling industry millionaires. Why should any of the innocent victims get any of it, if they ever do? Remember the super rich are an endangered species that must be protected at all possible cost from any responsibility for their actions. As for their victims, tough luck, you should have been born rich.

Why don't articles like this ever say if the person was a smoker or not?

Hope he gets better soon.

Can't really say if his cancer is due to radiation or not, maybe existing but was made worse by being exposed. Cancer usually don't develop that fast to a stage where it is known without tests.

On a side-note here is a recent BBC article about a study that found 40+% of all cancers are attributed to lifestyles and not genes, etc: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16031149

Stress can cause cancer too! Post March 11th must have been incredibly, off the scale stressful for Mr Yoshida. If he smokes and drinks that increases the chances.

the RADIATION that is still spewing out of that mess

Any actual evidence to support that? The only things posted here have suggested the amount being released is pretty negligible now

Ok, so Yoshida san smoked too much, big deal, people all over the world get this kind of cancer all the time. What about the cancer that we living here in Tokyo may come down with from the RADIATION that is still spewing out of that mess up in Fukushima???

With his money, I am sure he'll get the best treatment. The same can't be said for those out of work who may develop cancer in the future due to TEPCO.

Good luck to Masao Yoshida, and a big thank you for your actions in March in disregarding Tepco's instructions not to keep pouring seawater over the reactors.

esophageal cancer is is fairly common among Japanese men, the notorious 'asian flush' enzyme is to blame.

its too much of a coincidence..but i agree that more info is needed (e.g heavy smoker/drinker, etc)...

"Yoshida’s cumulative radiation exposure was 70 millisieverts since March 11, according to TEPCO—a level lower than the boosted threshold for emergency workers."

A 'boosted threshold' is meant only for when the government, or this company, cannot afford to keep the level at a low number or they'd lose workers. It seems doubtful that the man's cancer was CAUSED by radiation exposure after the plant disaster began, but it's likely the radiation he was exposed to since (or maybe even before) didn't help a whole lot. Could it have accelerated the disease in any way?

@paulinusa - very true. It has also been linked to scalding hot food and drink.

Radiation causes cancer, this we know. But not this quickly for this particular type. This time it would appear to be the truth.

That's right Paulinusa! 2 of my colleagues have the same. Both working in Sales & Marketing job which requires extensive dining and drinking....:(

A large amount a people who have this are heavy smokers and alcohol users.

The government set 100 millisieverts as the limit for workers involved in emergency operations at standard Japanese nuclear plants, but raised the threshold to 250 for the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima plant.

Yep, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.