Risk of Thyroid Cancer After Exposure to 131I in Childhood

• Published in: JNCI : Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2005-05, Vol.97 (10), p.724-732
• Main Authors: Cardis, Elisabeth, Kesminiene, Ausrele, Ivanov, Victor, Malakhova, Irina, Shibata, Yoshisada, Khrouch, Valeryi, Drozdovitch, Vladimir, Maceika, Evaldas, Zvonova, Irina, Vlassov, Oleg, Bouville, André, Goulko, Guennadi, Hoshi, Masaharu, Abrosimov, Alexander, Anoshko, Jadvyga, Astakhova, Larisa, Chekin, Sergey, Demidchik, Evgenyi, Galanti, Rosaria, Ito, Masahiro, Korobova, Elena, Lushnikov, Evgenyi, Maksioutov, Marat, Masyakin, Vladimir, Nerovnia, Alexander, Parshin, Vladimir, Parshkov, Evgenyi, Piliptsevich, Nikolay, Pinchera, Aldo, Polyakov, Semyon, Shabeka, Nina, Suonio, Eero, Tenet, Vanessa, Tsyb, Anatoli, Yamashita, Shunichi, Williams, Dillwyn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; Child; Child, Preschool; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Endocrinopathies; Female; Health risk assessment; Human exposure; Humans; Incidence; Iodine - deficiency; Iodine Radioisotopes - adverse effects; Isotopes; Linear Models; Male; Malignant tumors; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - epidemiology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - etiology; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - prevention & control; Nuclear accidents & safety; Odds Ratio; Potassium Iodide - administration & dosage; Republic of Belarus - epidemiology; Risk Assessment; Russia - epidemiology; Thyroid cancer; Thyroid gland; Thyroid Gland - radiation effects; Thyroid Neoplasms - epidemiology; Thyroid Neoplasms - etiology; Thyroid Neoplasms - prevention & control; Thyroid. Thyroid axis (diseases); Tumors
• ISSN: 0027-8874; 1460-2105; 1460-2105
• DOI: 10.1093/jnci/dji129

Background: After the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in April 1986, a large increase in the incidence of childhood thyroid cancer was reported in contaminated areas. Most of the radiation exposure to the thyroid was from iodine isotopes, especially 131I. We carried out a population-based case–control study of thyroid cancer in Belarus and the Russian Federation to evaluate the risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to radioactive iodine in childhood and to investigate environmental and host factors that may modify this risk. Methods: We studied 276 case patients with thyroid cancer through 1998 and 1300 matched control subjects, all aged younger than 15 years at the time of the accident. Individual doses were estimated for each subject based on their whereabouts and dietary habits at the time of the accident and in following days, weeks, and years; their likely stable iodine status at the time of the accident was also evaluated. Data were analyzed by conditional logistic regression using several different models. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: A strong dose–response relationship was observed between radiation dose to the thyroid received in childhood and thyroid cancer risk (P