Thyroid cancer in Ukraine after the Chernobyl accident (in the framework of the Ukraine–US Thyroid Project)

• Published in: Journal of radiological protection Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. N65 - N69
• Main Authors: Tronko, Mykola, Mabuchi, Kiyohiko, Bogdanova, Tetiana, Hatch, Maureen, Likhtarev, Ilya, Bouville, Andre, Oliynik, Valeriy, McConnell, Robert, Shpak, Viktor, Zablotska, Lydia, Tereshchenko, Valeriy, Brenner, Alina, Zamotayeva, Galyna
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol Institute of Physics 01.03.2012
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; Child; Child, Preschool; Endocrinopathies; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Malignant tumors; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - epidemiology; Nuclear Power Plants - statistics & numerical data; Proportional Hazards Models; Radioactive Fallout - statistics & numerical data; Republic of Belarus - epidemiology; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Thyroid Neoplasms - epidemiology; Thyroid. Thyroid axis (diseases); Ukraine - epidemiology; Young Adult; Republic of Belarus; Ukraine; Ukraine, Chernobyl; Ukraine, Chernigov; Belarus; Ukraine, Kiev; Russia; Endocrinopathy; Human; Biological properties; Chernobyl; Endocrine gland; Toxicity; Thyroid diseases; Risk; Malignant tumor; Epidemiology; Nuclear accident; Thyroid cancer; Nuclear power plant; Biological effect; Cancer
• ISSN: 0952-4746; 1361-6498; 1361-6498
• DOI: 10.1088/0952-4746/32/1/N65

As a result of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, millions of residents of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine were exposed to large doses of radioactive iodine isotopes, mainly I-131. The purpose of the Ukraine-American (UkrAm) and Belarus-American (BelAm) projects are to quantify the risks of thyroid cancer in the framework of a classical cohort study, comprising subjects who were aged under 18 years at the time of the accident, had direct measurements of thyroid I-131 radioactivity taken within two months after the accident, and were residents of three heavily contaminated northern regions of Ukraine (Zhitomir, Kiev, and Chernigov regions). Four two-year screening examination cycles were implemented from 1998 until 2007 to study the risks associated with thyroid cancer due to the iodine exposure caused during the Chernobyl accident. A standardised procedure of clinical examinations included: thyroid palpation, ultrasound examination, blood collection followed by a determination of thyroid hormone levels, urinary iodine content test, and fine-needle aspiration if required. Among the 110 cases of thyroid cancer diagnosed in UkrAm as the result of four screening examinations, 104 cases (94.5%) of papillary carcinomas, five cases (4.6%) of follicular carcinomas, and one case (0.9%) of medullary carcinoma were diagnosed.