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Liutsko L, Igumnov S, Drozdovitch V, Cardis E. Association between radiation dose, thyroid hormone, and IQ levels in children exposed to radiation in utero after the Chernobyl accident. Int J Radiat Biol 2024; 100:1364-1370. [PMID: 38748999 DOI: 10.1080/09553002.2024.2345088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 08/30/2024]
Abstract
Few studies have explored the effects of n utero radiation exposure on human health and cognition and none have taken into account thyroid hormone levels (T3), which have shown to affect cognitive performance. We investigated mechanisms of possible radiation effects on IQ in two cohorts of 250 persons each: exposed n utero after the Chernobyl accident: a 'higher exposure group (HEG)', whose mothers resided in more heavily contaminated territories at the time of the Chernobyl accident, and a 'lesser exposure group (LEG)' whose mothers resided in less contaminated areas. The dataset included information on estimated prenatal thyroid radiation dose, gestation week at the time of the accident (ATA); thyroid hormones: T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine) levels measured at age 11-12 years and general IQ measured at three time points: t1: 6-7 years old; t2: 11-12 years old and t3: 15-16 years old. Descriptive and inference analyses were used to explore the dynamic of changes through time and the associations between key variables at the three time points. Estimated radiation doses to the thyroid gland were substantially higher in the HEG than in the LEG (mean 391 vs 25 mGy respectively). Significant differences in thyroid hormones levels were observed between the two groups, with lower values in T3 (higher in T4) in the LEG. At t1, the general IQ, as well as verbal and non-verbal IQ scores, were lower in the HEG than in the LEG. In the HEG, analyses adjusting simultaneously for radiation dose, gestational week ATA and T3 levels suggest that all three variables are associated with IQ, with the latter being highest among those exposed later during gestation and decreasing with increasing level of dose and of T3. No significant association was observed between IQ and T4 levels. No effect of exposure on IQ was seen in the LEG. Further investigation of this hypothesis will be important to understand the relation between n utero exposure radiation dose to thyroid, thyroid hormone levels and IQ, taking into account effects of potential confounding factors (physiological stress, maternal anxiety related evacuation).
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Affiliation(s)
- Liudmila Liutsko
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Unitat de Suport a la Recerca Metropolitana Nord, Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol (IDIAP Jordi Gol), Mataró, Spain
- ICS & GRASSIR, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergey Igumnov
- Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Mental Health, Minsk, Belarus
- Institute of Psychology, Belarusian State Pedagogical University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elisabeth Cardis
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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McConnell RJ, Kamysh O, O’Kane PL, Greenebaum E, Rozhko AV, Yauseyenka VV, Minenko VF, Drozdovitch V, Yarets Y, Kukhta T, Mabuchi K, Little MP, Cahoon EK, Zablotska LB. Radiation Dose Does Not Affect the Predictive Value of Thyroid Biopsy for Diagnosing Papillary Thyroid Cancer in a Belarusian Cohort Exposed to Chernobyl Fallout. Acta Cytol 2024; 68:34-44. [PMID: 38246154 PMCID: PMC10987278 DOI: 10.1159/000536387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/13/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The Chernobyl nuclear accident exposed residents of contaminated territories to substantial quantities of radioiodines and was followed by an increase in thyroid cancer, primarily papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), among exposed children and adolescents. Although thyroid biopsy is an essential component of screening programs following accidental exposure to radioiodines, it is unknown whether the predictive value of biopsy is affected by different levels of environmental exposure. METHODS A cohort of 11,732 Belarusians aged ≤18 years at the time of the Chernobyl accident with individual thyroid radiation dose estimates was screened at least once 11-22 years later. Paired cytologic conclusions and histopathologic diagnoses were possible for 258 thyroid nodules from 238 cohort members. Cytologic conclusions were divided into five reporting categories, with all follicular lesion aspirates combined into a single indeterminate category. Standard performance indicators, risk of malignancy (ROM), and odds ratios for a correct cytologic conclusion were calculated, both overall and according to quintile of thyroid radiation dose. RESULTS The arithmetic mean thyroid dose estimate for the study group was 1.73 Gy (range: 0.00-23.64 Gy). The final histopathologic diagnosis was cancer for 136 of 258 biopsies (52.7%; 135 papillary and 1 follicular). The overall ROM was 96.7% for cytologies definite for PTC, 83.7% for suspicious for PTC, 33.0% for indeterminate, 8.1% for benign, and 31.0% for non-diagnostic. The ROM showed little change according to level of radiation exposure. Overall, there was no association between thyroid radiation dose and the odds ratio for a correct cytologic conclusion (p = 0.24). When analyzed according to dose quintile, the odds ratio for a correct conclusion increased two-fold at 0.10-0.29 Gy compared to a dose of 0.00-0.09 Gy and decreased at doses of 0.3-24 Gy (p value for linear trend = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS At radiation doses received by a cohort of young Belarusians exposed to radioiodines by the Chernobyl accident, the predictive value of thyroid biopsy for diagnosing PTC was not significantly affected by level of radiation exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert J. McConnell
- The Thyroid Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Olga Kamysh
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Patrick L. O’Kane
- Department of Radiology, Jefferson Health-Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ellen Greenebaum
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alexander V. Rozhko
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | | | - Victor F. Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yuliya Yarets
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark P. Little
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth K. Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lydia B. Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
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Shishkina EA, Napier BA, Preston DL, Degteva MO. Dose estimates and their uncertainties for use in epidemiological studies of radiation-exposed populations in the Russian Southern Urals. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288479. [PMID: 37561738 PMCID: PMC10414627 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Many residents of the Russian Southern Urals were exposed to radioactive environmental pollution created by the operations of the Mayak Production Association in the mid- 20th century. There were two major releases: the discharge of about 1x1017 Bq of liquid waste into the Techa River between 1949 and 1959; and the atmospheric release of 7.4 * 1016 Bq as a result an explosion in the radioactive waste-storage facility in 1957. The releases into the Techa River resulted in the exposure of more than 30,000 people who lived in riverside villages between 1950 and 1961. The 1957 accident contaminated a larger area with the highest exposure levels in an area that is called the East Urals Radioactive Trace (EURT). Current epidemiologic studies of the exposed populations are based on dose estimates obtained using a Monte-Carlo dosimetry system (TRDS-2016MC) that provides multiple realizations of the annual doses for each cohort member. These dose realizations provide a central estimate of the individual dose and information on the uncertainty of these dose estimates. In addition, the correlation of individual annual doses over realizations provides important information on shared uncertainties that can be used to assess the impact of shared dose uncertainties on risk estimate uncertainty.This paper considers dose uncertainties in the TRDS-2016MC. Individual doses from external and internal radiation sources were reconstructed for 48,036 people based on environmental contamination patterns, residential histories, individual 90Sr body-burden measurements and dietary intakes. Dietary intake of 90Sr resulted in doses accumulated in active bone marrow (or simply, marrow) that were an order of magnitude greater than those in soft tissues. About 84% of the marrow dose and 50% of the stomach dose was associated with internal exposures. The lognormal distribution is well-fitted to the individual dose realizations, which, therefore, could be expressed and easily operated in terms of geometric mean (GM) and geometric standard deviation (GSD). Cohort average GM for marrow and stomach cumulative doses are 0.21 and 0.03 Gy, respectively. Cohort average dose uncertainties in terms of GSD are as follows: for marrow it is 2.93 (90%CI: 2.02-4.34); for stomach and the other non-calcified tissues it is 2.32 (90% CI: 1.78-2.9).
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena A. Shishkina
- Biophysics Laboratory, Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia
- Chelyabinsk State University, Chelyabinsk, Russia
| | - Bruce A. Napier
- Energy and Environment Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, United States of America
| | - Dale L. Preston
- Hirosoft International LLC, Eureka, California, United States of America
| | - Marina O. Degteva
- Biophysics Laboratory, Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia
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Masiuk S, Chepurny M, Buderatska V, Ivanova O, Boiko Z, Zhadan N, Mabuchi K, Cahoon EK, Little MP, Kukush A, Bogdanova T, Shpak V, Zamotayeva G, Tronko M, Drozdovitch V. Exposure to the Thyroid from Intake of Radioiodine Isotopes after the Chornobyl Accident. Report I: Revised Doses and Associated Uncertainties for the Ukrainian-American Cohort. Radiat Res 2023; 199:61-73. [PMID: 36366807 PMCID: PMC9899004 DOI: 10.1667/rade-21-00152.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Thyroid doses from intake of radioiodine isotopes (131I, 132Te+132I, and 133I) and associated uncertainties were revised for the 13,204 Ukrainian-American cohort members exposed in childhood and adolescence to fallout from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident. The main changes related to the revision of the 131I thyroid activity measured in cohort members, the use of thyroid-mass values specific to the Ukrainian population, and the revision of the 131I ground deposition densities in Ukraine. Uncertainties in doses were assessed considering shared and unshared errors in the parameters of the dosimetry model. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation procedure, 1,000 individual stochastic thyroid doses were calculated for each cohort member. The arithmetic mean of thyroid doses from intake of 131I, 132Te+132I, and 133I for the entire cohort was 0.60 Gy (median = 0.22 Gy). For 9,474 subjects (71.6% of the total), the thyroid doses were less than 0.5 Gy. Thyroid doses for 42 cohort members (0.3% of the total) exceeded 10 Gy while the highest dose was 35 Gy. Intake of 131I contributed around 95% to internal thyroid exposure from radioiodine isotopes. The geometric standard deviation of individual stochastic thyroid doses varied among cohort members from 1.4 to 4.3 with an arithmetic mean of 1.6 and a median of 1.4. It was shown that the contribution of shared errors to the dose uncertainty was small. The revised thyroid doses resulted, in average, in around 40% decrease for cohort members from Zhytomyr Oblast and an increase of around 24% and 35% for the cohort members from Kyiv and Chernihiv Oblast, respectively. Arithmetic mean of TD20 doses for the cohort was around 8% less than that estimated in TD10, 0.60 Gy vs. 0.65 Gy, respectively; however, global median of TD20 doses somewhat increased compared to TD10: 0.22 Gy vs. 0.19 Gy, respectively. The difference between TD10 and TD20 was mainly due to a revision of the individual 131I thyroid activity measured in the cohort members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergii Masiuk
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Chepurny
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Valentyna Buderatska
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Olga Ivanova
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Zulfira Boiko
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Zhadan
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Mark P Little
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland
| | | | - Tetiana Bogdanova
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Victor Shpak
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Galyna Zamotayeva
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Tronko
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland
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DiCarlo AL, Carnell LS, Rios CI, Prasanna PG. Inter-agency perspective: Translating advances in biomarker discovery and medical countermeasures development between terrestrial and space radiation environments. LIFE SCIENCES IN SPACE RESEARCH 2022; 35:9-19. [PMID: 36336375 PMCID: PMC9832585 DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2022.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Over the past 20+ years, the U.S. Government has made significant strides in establishing research funding and initiating a portfolio consisting of subject matter experts on radiation-induced biological effects in normal tissues. Research supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provided much of the early findings on identifying cellular pathways involved in radiation injuries, due to the need to push the boundaries to kill tumor cells while minimizing damage to intervening normal tissues. By protecting normal tissue surrounding the tumors, physicians can deliver a higher radiation dose to tumors and reduce adverse effects related to the treatment. Initially relying on this critical NCI research, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), first tasked with developing radiation medical countermeasures in 2004, has provided bridge funding to move basic research toward advanced development and translation. The goal of the NIAID program is to fund approaches that can one day be employed to protect civilian populations during a radiological or nuclear incident. In addition, with the reality of long-term space flights and the possibility of radiation exposures to both acute, high-intensity, and chronic lower-dose levels, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has identified requirements to discover and develop radioprotectors and mitigators to protect their astronauts during space missions. In sustained partnership with sister agencies, these three organizations must continue to leverage funding and findings in their overlapping research areas to accelerate biomarker identification and product development to help safeguard these different and yet undeniably similar human populations - cancer patients, public citizens, and astronauts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea L DiCarlo
- Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), 5601 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20852 United States of America.
| | - Lisa S Carnell
- Biological and Physical Sciences Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC, 20546 United States of America
| | - Carmen I Rios
- Radiation and Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), 5601 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20852 United States of America
| | - Pataje G Prasanna
- Radiation Research Program (RRP), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892 United States of America
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Minenko V, Kukhta T, Trofimik S, Zhukova O, Podgaiskaya M, Viarenich K, Bouville A, Drozdovitch V. Evaluation of 131I transfer in the environment based on the available measurements made in Belarus after the Chernobyl accident. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2022; 250:106928. [PMID: 35660203 PMCID: PMC9177796 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2022.106928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
This study evaluates the 131I transfer from ground deposition to the human thyroid gland after the Chernobyl accident using measurements of 131I concentrations in 1,252 soil, 124 grass, and 136 cow's milk samples as well as 131I thyroid activity measured in 3,100 individuals included in the Belarusian-American cohort. The following parameters of an 131I environmental transfer model used to calculate thyroid doses were evaluated in this study: (i) the interception factor of 131I by pasture grass, which was described by a purely empirical equation, (ii) the removal rate of 131I from pasture grass due to weathering and growth dilution, estimated to be 0.0676 d-1 (half-life of 10.3 d), (iii) the removal rate of 131I from cow's milk, estimated to be 0.0686 d-1 (half-life of 10.1 d), and (iv) the transfer coefficient of 131I from feed to cow's milk, arithmetic mean ± standard deviation of (6.7 ± 8.7) × 10-3 d L-1 (median = 4.0 × 10-3 d L-1). The individual model-based and measurement-based 131I thyroid activities for the Belarusian-American cohort members were calculated using different starting points of 131I transfer in the chain 'ground deposition' → 'vegetation' → 'cow's milk' → 'human thyroid', i.e., the measured 131I concentrations in soil, grass, and cow's milk. De novo thyroid doses from 131I for the 3,100 cohort members were calculated in this study using measured 131I activity concentrations in soil, grass, and cow's milk and were compared with those estimated previously for the same individuals using model-based 131I activity concentrations. It was shown that the use of measured instead of model-based 131I concentrations, in general, did not improve the measurement-based thyroid dose estimates. This is likely to be because there was already a good generic data base for the parameters used in this assessment. This finding indicates that, although the measurements of environmental samples are essential to estimate the parameter values of the 131I transfer model, the individual measurements of 131I thyroid activity are the most valuable information for estimating individual thyroid doses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, 11 Bobruiskaya Street, Minsk, 220006, Belarus
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 6 Surganova Street, Minsk, 220012, Belarus
| | - Sergey Trofimik
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, 11 Bobruiskaya Street, Minsk, 220006, Belarus
| | - Olga Zhukova
- Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Hygiene, 8 Academic Street, Minsk, 220072, Belarus
| | - Marina Podgaiskaya
- Republican Center of Radiation Control and Environmental Monitoring, 110A Nezalezhnosti Avenue, Minsk, 220023, Belarus
| | - Kiryl Viarenich
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, 11 Bobruiskaya Street, Minsk, 220006, Belarus
| | | | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892, 9778, USA.
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Sharifi A, Dinparastisaleh R, Kumar N, Mirsaeidi M. Health effects of radioactive contaminated dust in the aftermath of potential nuclear accident in Ukraine. Front Public Health 2022; 10:959668. [PMID: 36072376 PMCID: PMC9441805 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.959668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Arash Sharifi
- Department of Marine Geosciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States,Isobar Science-Beta Analytic, Research and Development Department, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Roshan Dinparastisaleh
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Naresh Kumar
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Mehdi Mirsaeidi
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, College of Medicine-Jacksonville, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States,*Correspondence: Mehdi Mirsaeidi
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Little MP, Cahoon EK, Gudzenko N, Mabuchi K, Drozdovitch V, Hatch M, Brenner AV, Vij V, Chizhov K, Bakhanova E, Trotsyuk N, Kryuchkov V, Golovanov I, Chumak V, Bazyka D. Impact of uncertainties in exposure assessment on thyroid cancer risk among cleanup workers in Ukraine exposed due to the Chornobyl accident. Eur J Epidemiol 2022; 37:837-847. [PMID: 35226216 PMCID: PMC10641599 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-022-00850-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
A large excess risk of thyroid cancer was observed among Belarusian/Russian/Baltic Chornobyl cleanup workers. A more recent study of Ukraine cleanup workers found more modest excess risks of thyroid cancer. Dose errors in this data are substantial, associated with model uncertainties and questionnaire response. Regression calibration is often used for dose-error adjustment, but may not adequately account for the full error distribution. We aimed to examine the impact of exposure-assessment uncertainties on thyroid cancer among Ukrainian cleanup workers using Monte Carlo maximum likelihood, and compare with results derived using regression calibration. Analyses assessed the sensitivity of results to various components of internal and external dose. Regression calibration yielded an excess odds ratio per Gy (EOR/Gy) of 0.437 (95% CI - 0.042, 1.577, p = 0.100), compared with the EOR/Gy using Monte Carlo maximum likelihood of 0.517 (95% CI - 0.039, 2.035, p = 0.093). Trend risk estimates for follicular morphology tumors exhibited much more extreme effects of full-likelihood adjustment, the EOR/Gy using regression calibration of 3.224 (95% CI - 0.082, 30.615, p = 0.068) becoming ~ 50% larger, 4.708 (95% CI - 0.075, 85.143, p = 0.066) when using Monte Carlo maximum likelihood. Results were sensitive to omission of external components of dose. In summary, use of Monte Carlo maximum likelihood adjustment for dose error led to increases in trend risks, particularly for follicular morphology thyroid cancers, where risks increased by ~ 50%, and were borderline significant. The unexpected finding for follicular tumors needs to be replicated in other exposed groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Little
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9778, USA.
| | - Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Natalia Gudzenko
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Vibha Vij
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Konstantin Chizhov
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elena Bakhanova
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Trotsyuk
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Victor Kryuchkov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, Russia, 123182
| | - Ivan Golovanov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, Russia, 123182
| | - Vadim Chumak
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Dimitry Bazyka
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
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Masiuk S, Chepurny M, Buderatska V, Ivanova O, Boiko Z, Zhadan N, Hatch M, Cahoon EK, Zamotayeva G, Shpak V, Tronko M, Drozdovitch V. Assessment of internal exposure to 131I and short-lived radioiodine isotopes and associated uncertainties in the Ukrainian cohort of persons exposed in utero. JOURNAL OF RADIATION RESEARCH 2022; 63:364-377. [PMID: 35301522 PMCID: PMC9124623 DOI: 10.1093/jrr/rrac007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study revised the thyroid doses for 2582 Ukrainian in utero cohort members exposed to Chornobyl fallout (the Ukrainian in utero cohort) based on revision of: (i) 131I thyroid activity measured in the Ukrainian population, (ii) thyroid dosimetry system for entire Ukraine, and (iii) 131I ground deposition densities in Ukraine. Other major improvements included: (i) assessment of uncertainties in the thyroid doses considering shared and unshared error, and (ii) accounting for intake of short-lived radioisotopes of tellurium and iodine (132Te+132I and 133I). Intake of 131I was the major pathway for thyroid exposure, its median contribution to the thyroid dose was 97.4%. The mean prenatal and postnatal thyroid dose from 131I was 87 mGy (median = 17 mGy), higher than previous deterministic dose of 72 mGy (median = 12 mGy). For 39 individuals (1.5%) the dose exceeded 1.0 Gy, while the highest dose among the cohort members was 2.7 Gy. The geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 1000 individual stochastic doses varied from 1.9 to 5.2 with a mean of 3.1 and a median of 3.2. The lowest uncertainty (mean GSD = 2.3, median GSD = 2.2) was found for the subjects whose mothers were measured for 131I thyroid activity, while for individuals, whose mothers were not measured, the mean and median GSDs were 3.4. Uncertainties in thyroid doses were driven by shared errors associated with the parameters of the ecological model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergii Masiuk
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Chepurny
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Valentyna Buderatska
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Olga Ivanova
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Zulfira Boiko
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Zhadan
- State Institution “National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Galyna Zamotayeva
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 04114, Ukraine
| | - Victor Shpak
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 04114, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Tronko
- V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 04114, Ukraine
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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10
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Cahoon EK, Preston D, Zhang R, Vij V, Little MP, Mabuchi K, Drozdovitch V, Chizhov K, Yauseyenka VV, Rozhko AV, Velalkin IV. Breast cancer risk in residents of Belarus exposed to Chernobyl fallout while pregnant or lactating: standardized incidence ratio analysis, 1997 to 2016. Int J Epidemiol 2022; 51:547-554. [PMID: 34687542 PMCID: PMC9082790 DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyab226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pregnancy and lactation may constitute radiation-sensitive reproductive periods due to rapid cell proliferation and concentration of radioiodine in the lactating breast. However, there are limited epidemiological data among women exposed to radiation during these periods. METHODS We examined incidence of breast cancer in a cohort of 3214 women who were pregnant and/or lactating within 2 months (26 April to 30 June 1986) of the Chernobyl accident and residing in contaminated regions of Belarus. There were 33 breast cancers identified through linkage with the Belarusian National Cancer Registry. Breast cancer rates among women who were either pregnant and/or lactating were compared with population rates by calculating standardized incidence ratios (SIR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusting for attained age, oblast, urban/rural residence and calendar year. RESULTS Among women who were lactating, we found a greater than 2-fold increased risk of breast cancer compared with the general population, SIR = 2.49 (95% CI: 1.55, 3.75). In contrast, women who were pregnant were not at increased risk (SIR = 0.84 95% CI: 0.46, 1.38). The SIR was highest in women who were exposed at a younger age and at the earliest time period since the accident, though stratified analyses had limited sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS We found a significantly increased risk of breast cancer among women residing in contaminated areas of Belarus who were lactating at the time of the accident and may have had elevated exposure to radioiodine, when compared with the general population. Studies of breast cancer with individual radiation dose estimates among women exposed during lactation are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Rui Zhang
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vibha Vij
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Mark P Little
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Konstantin Chizhov
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Alexander V Rozhko
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Ilya V Velalkin
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
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11
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Chirikova E, McConnell RJ, O'Kane P, Yauseyenka V, Little MP, Minenko V, Drozdovitch V, Veyalkin I, Hatch M, Chan JM, Huang CY, Mabuchi K, Cahoon EK, Rozhko A, Zablotska LB. Association between exposure to radioactive iodine after the Chernobyl accident and thyroid volume in Belarus 10-15 years later. Environ Health 2022; 21:5. [PMID: 34996456 PMCID: PMC8742457 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00820-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While there is a robust literature on environmental exposure to iodine-131 (131I) in childhood and adolescence and the risk of thyroid cancer and benign nodules, little is known about its effects on thyroid volume. METHODS To assess the effect of 131I dose to the thyroid on the volume of the thyroid gland, we examined the data from the baseline screening of the Belarusian-American Cohort Study of residents of Belarus who were exposed to the Chernobyl fallout at ages ≤18 years. Thyroid dose estimates were based on individual thyroid activity measurements made shortly after the accident and dosimetric data from questionnaires obtained 10-15 years later at baseline screening. During baseline screening, thyroid gland volume was assessed from thyroid ultrasound measurements. The association between radiation dose and thyroid volume was modeled using linear regression where radiation dose was expressed with power terms to address non-linearity. The model was adjusted for attained age, sex, and place of residence, and their modifying effects were examined. RESULTS The analysis was based on 10,703 subjects. We found a statistically significant positive association between radiation dose and thyroid volume (P < 0.001). Heterogeneity of association was observed by attained age (P < 0.001) with statistically significant association remaining only in the subgroup of ≥18 years at screening (P < 0.001). For this group, increase in dose from 0.0005 to 0.15 Gy was associated with a 1.27 ml (95% CI: 0.46, 2.07) increase in thyroid volume. The estimated effect did not change with increasing doses above 0.15 Gy. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to examine the association between 131I dose to the thyroid gland and thyroid volume in a population of individuals exposed during childhood and systematically screened 10-15 years later. It provides evidence for a moderate statistically significant increase in thyroid volume among those who were ≥ 18 years at screening. Given that this effect was observed at very low doses and was restricted to a narrow dose range, further studies are necessary to better understand the effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina Chirikova
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | | | - Patrick O'Kane
- Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Vasilina Yauseyenka
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Mark P Little
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ilya Veyalkin
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - June M Chan
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Chiung-Yu Huang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Alexander Rozhko
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Lydia B Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.
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12
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Chumak V, Bakhanova E, Kryuchkov V, Golovanov I, Chizhov K, Bazyka D, Gudzenko N, Trotsuk N, Mabuchi K, Hatch M, Cahoon EK, Little MP, Kukhta T, de Gonzalez AB, Chanock SJ, Drozdovitch V. Estimation of radiation gonadal doses for the American-Ukrainian trio study of parental irradiation in Chornobyl cleanup workers and evacuees and germline mutations in their offspring. JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION 2021; 41:10.1088/1361-6498/abf0f4. [PMID: 33752181 PMCID: PMC9426296 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6498/abf0f4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Radiation doses of parents exposed from the Chornobyl accident as cleanup workers or evacuees were estimated in the National Cancer Institute-National Research Center for Radiation Medicine trio (i.e. father, mother, offspring) study aimed at investigating the radiation effects on germlinede novomutations in children as well as other outcomes. Paternal (testes) and maternal (ovaries) gonadal doses were calculated along with associated uncertainty distributions for the following exposure pathways: (a) external irradiation during the cleanup mission, (b) external irradiation during residence in Pripyat, and (c) external irradiation and (d) ingestion of radiocesium isotopes, such as134Cs and137Cs, during residence in settlements other than Pripyat. Gonadal doses were reconstructed for 298 trios for the periods from the time of the accident on 26 April 1986 to two time points before the child's date of birth (DOB): 51 (DOB-51) and 38 (DOB-38) weeks. The two doses, DOB-51 and DOB-38 were equal (within 1 mGy) in most instances, except for 35 fathers where the conception of the child occurred within 3 months of exposure or during exposure. The arithmetic mean of gonadal DOB-38 doses was 227 mGy (median: 11 mGy, range 0-4080 mGy) and 8.5 mGy (median: 1.0 mGy, range 0-550 mGy) for fathers and mothers, respectively. Gonadal doses varied considerably depending on the exposure pathway, the highest gonadal DOB-38 doses being received during the cleanup mission (mean doses of 376 and 34 mGy, median of 144 and 7.4 mGy for fathers and mothers, respectively), followed by exposure during residence in Pripyat (7.7 and 13 mGy for mean, 7.2 and 6.2 mGy for median doses) and during residence in other settlements (2.0 and 2.1 mGy for mean, 0.91 and 0.81 mGy for median doses). Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate the parental gonadal doses and associated uncertainties. The geometric standard deviations (GSDs) in the individual parental stochastic doses due to external irradiation during the cleanup mission varied from 1.2 to 4.7 (mean of 1.8), while during residence in Pripyat they varied from 1.4 to 2.8 (mean of 1.8), while the mean GSD in doses received during residence in settlements other than Pripyat was 1.3 and 1.4 for external irradiation and ingestion of radiocesium isotopes, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vadim Chumak
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Elena Bakhanova
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Victor Kryuchkov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ivan Golovanov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, Moscow, Russia
| | - Konstantin Chizhov
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Dimitry Bazyka
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | | | - Natalia Trotsuk
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth K Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Mark P Little
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Amy Berrington de Gonzalez
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Stephen J Chanock
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, United States of America
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13
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Drozdovitch V, Minenko V, Kukhta T, Viarenich K, Trofimik S, Rogounovitch T, Nakayama T, Drozd V, Veyalkin I, Mitsutake N, Ostroumova E, Saenko V. Thyroid dose estimates for the genome-wide association study of thyroid cancer in persons exposed in Belarus to 131I after the Chernobyl accident. JOURNAL OF RADIATION RESEARCH 2021:rrab082. [PMID: 34536956 DOI: 10.1093/jrr/rrab082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The Chernobyl accident on 26 April 1986 led to a sharp increase in thyroid cancer (TC) incidence in the individuals exposed to radiation in childhood. The major risk factor for TC was exposure to Iodine-131 (131I). Here, we estimated the thyroid doses due to 131I intake for 2041 participants of the genome-wide association study of TC in Belarusian people exposed to radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The following parameter-values specially developed in this study were used to estimate individual thyroid doses: (i) scaling factors for adjustment of the model-based doses, (ii) age and gender diet to characterize 131I intake, and (iii) area-, age- and gender-specific S-values for the thyroid gland per 131I decay in the thyroid. The most reliable doses were calculated for 103 people with measured 131I thyroid activity (the arithmetic mean of 1.2 Gy, median 0.52 Gy), and 275 individuals with detailed residential history and dietary data (the arithmetic mean of 0.41 Gy, median 0.24 Gy). The arithmetic mean of thyroid doses among all study participants was 0.23 Gy (median 0.082 Gy); the highest individual dose was 9.0 Gy. Special attention was paid to the reliability and validity of the obtained estimates, in particular for the individuals without 131I thyroid activity measurements and individual data on residential history and diet, by comparing those with the doses from other post-Chernobyl epidemiological studies. Overall, the doses estimated in the current study were in reasonable agreement with previously reported thyroid doses. These doses will be used in the genome-wide association study of TC in people exposed in Belarus to 131I after the Chernobyl accident.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, 220030, Belarus
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, 220012, Belarus
| | - Kiryl Viarenich
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, 220030, Belarus
| | - Sergey Trofimik
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, 220030, Belarus
| | - Tatiana Rogounovitch
- Department of Radiation Medical Sciences, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
| | - Takafumi Nakayama
- Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
| | - Valentina Drozd
- The International Fund "Help for Patients with Radiation-Induced Thyroid Cancer 'Arnica'", Minsk, 220005, Belarus
| | - Ilya Veyalkin
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, 246040, Belarus
| | - Norisato Mitsutake
- Department of Radiation Medical Sciences, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
| | - Evgenia Ostroumova
- International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, 69372, Lyon CEDEX 08, France
| | - Vladimir Saenko
- Department of Radiation Molecular Epidemiology, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
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14
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Masiuk S, Chepurny M, Buderatska V, Kukush A, Shklyar S, Ivanova O, Boiko Z, Zhadan N, Fedosenko G, Bilonyk A, Lev T, Talerko M, Kutsen S, Minenko V, Viarenich K, Drozdovitch V. Thyroid doses in Ukraine due to 131I intake after the Chornobyl accident. Report I: revision of direct thyroid measurements. RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS 2021; 60:267-288. [PMID: 33661398 PMCID: PMC8119388 DOI: 10.1007/s00411-021-00896-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The increased risk of thyroid cancer among individuals exposed during childhood and adolescence to Iodine-131 (131I) is the main statistically significant long-term effect of the Chornobyl accident. Several radiation epidemiological studies have been carried out or are currently in progress in Ukraine, to assess the risk of radiation-related health effects in exposed populations. About 150,000 measurements of 131I thyroid activity, so-called 'direct thyroid measurements', performed in May-June 1986 in the Ukrainian population served as the main sources of data used to estimate thyroid doses to the individuals of these studies. However, limitations in the direct thyroid measurements have been recently recognized including improper measurement geometry and unknown true values of calibration coefficients for unchecked thyroid detectors. In the present study, a comparative analysis of 131I thyroid activity measured by calibrated and unchecked devices in residents of the same neighboring settlements was conducted to evaluate the correct measurement geometry and calibration coefficients for measuring devices. As a result, revised values of 131I thyroid activity were obtained. On average, in Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Lviv and Chernihiv Oblasts and in the city of Kyiv, the revised values of the 131I thyroid activities were found to be 10-25% higher than previously reported, while in Zhytomyr Oblast, the values of the revised activities were found to be lower by about 50%. New sources of shared and unshared errors associated with estimates of 131I thyroid activity were identified. The revised estimates of thyroid activity are recommended to be used to develop an updated Thyroid Dosimetry system (TD20) for the entire population of Ukraine as well as to revise the thyroid doses for the individuals included in post-Chornobyl radiation epidemiological studies: the Ukrainian-American cohort of individuals exposed during childhood and adolescence, the Ukrainian in utero cohort and the Chornobyl Tissue Bank.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergii Masiuk
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Chepurny
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Valentyna Buderatska
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | | | - Sergiy Shklyar
- Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Olga Ivanova
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Zulfira Boiko
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Zhadan
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Galyna Fedosenko
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Andriy Bilonyk
- State Institution "National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Tatiana Lev
- Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Mykola Talerko
- Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | - Semion Kutsen
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Kiryl Viarenich
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9778, USA.
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15
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Drozdovitch V, Kesminiene A, Moissonnier M, Veyalkin I, Ostroumova E. Uncertainties in Radiation Doses for a Case-control Study of Thyroid Cancer among Persons Exposed in Childhood to 131 I from Chernobyl Fallout. HEALTH PHYSICS 2020; 119:222-235. [PMID: 33290004 PMCID: PMC7728628 DOI: 10.1097/hp.0000000000001206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Uncertainties in thyroid doses due to I intake were evaluated for 2,239 subjects in a case-control study of thyroid cancer following exposure to Chernobyl fallout during childhood and adolescence carried out in contaminated regions of Belarus and Russia. Using new methodological developments that became available recently, a Monte Carlo simulation procedure was applied to calculate 1,000 alternative vectors of thyroid doses due to I intake for the study population of 2,239 subjects accounting for sources of shared and unshared errors. An overall arithmetic mean of the stochastic thyroid doses in the study was estimated to be 0.43 Gy and median dose of 0.16 Gy. The arithmetic mean and median of deterministic doses estimated previously for 1,615 of 2,239 study subjects were 0.48 Gy and 0.20 Gy, respectively. The geometric standard deviation of individual stochastic doses varied from 1.59 to 3.61 with an arithmetic mean of 1.94 and a geometric mean of 1.89 over all subjects of the study. These multiple sets of thyroid doses were used to update radiation-related thyroid cancer risks in the study population exposed to I after the Chernobyl accident.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | | | | | - Ilya Veyalkin
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
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16
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Eslinger PW, Degteva MO, Napier BA, Tolstykh EI, Tokareva EE. Individual doses for super cohort members exposed to atmospheric radioiodine from the Mayak releases with an emphasis on prenatal doses. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2020; 217:106219. [PMID: 32217251 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2020.106219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Revised: 02/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Time-dependent thyroid doses were reconstructed for 45,837 members of the Southern Urals Population Exposed to Radiation Cohort (SUPER-C) living in the region around the Mayak Production Association facilities in Russia from 131I released to the atmosphere from all relevant exposure pathways. The dose calculations are implemented in a Monte Carlo framework that produces best estimates and stochastic realizations of dose time-histories. The arithmetic mean thyroid dose from 131I for SUPER-C members was 195 mGy; the median was 61 mGy. Overall, 131I-thyroid doses for about 3.6% of SUPER-C members were larger than 1 Gy. For children born in 1940-1950, the dose was about 10% higher than in previous studies because doses during the prenatal period for 9,117 individuals are included in the current work. Half of the individuals born in the region in 1950-1960 who remained in the study domain through 1972 received 9.4% or more of their total dose during the prenatal period. SUPER-C members residing in areas contaminated by discharges of liquid radioactive releases into the Techa River or the Kyshtym Accident in 1957 received 80% of their thyroid dose from airborne 131I emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul W Eslinger
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99354, USA.
| | - Marina O Degteva
- Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Biophysics Laboratory, 68-a, Vorovsky Street, Chelyabinsk, 454076, Russia.
| | - Bruce A Napier
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Boulevard, Richland, WA, 99354, USA.
| | - Evgenia I Tolstykh
- Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Biophysics Laboratory, 68-a, Vorovsky Street, Chelyabinsk, 454076, Russia.
| | - Elena E Tokareva
- Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Biophysics Laboratory, 68-a, Vorovsky Street, Chelyabinsk, 454076, Russia.
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17
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Drozdovitch V, Minenko V, Kukhta T, Trofimik S, Grakovitch R, Hatch M, Cahoon E, Veyalkin I, Polyanskaya O, Yauseyenka V, Ostroumova E, Mabuchi K, Rozhko A. Thyroid Dose Estimates for a Cohort of Belarusian Persons Exposed in Utero and During Early Life to Chernobyl Fallout. HEALTH PHYSICS 2020; 118:170-184. [PMID: 31869316 PMCID: PMC6931907 DOI: 10.1097/hp.0000000000001135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Thyroid radiation doses were estimated for a cohort of 2,965 Belarusian persons who were exposed in utero and during early life to fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Prenatal and postnatal doses to the thyroid due to intake of I, external irradiation from radionuclides deposited on the ground, and ingestion of cesium isotopes (Cs and Cs) were calculated for all cohort members. Dose estimation was based on personal interviews with subjects' mothers; the interviews collected data on subjects' residential history, consumption by mothers during time of pregnancy and breast-feeding, as well as consumption by subjects after birth. Direct instrumental measurements of radioactivity in mothers and the study subjects, if available, were also used for calculation of doses. Intake of I by mothers was found to be the predominant pathway for thyroid exposure for the study subjects. The average thyroid dose due to all exposure pathways was estimated to be 137 mGy (median dose of 25 mGy, maximal dose of 14.8 Gy), including 130 mGy (median dose of 17 mGy, maximal dose of 14.8 Gy) from I intake, 4.9 mGy (median dose of 3.0 mGy, maximal dose of 102 mGy) due to external irradiation, and 2.5 mGy (median dose of 1.7 mGy, maximal dose of 47 mGy) due to ingestion of Cs. The dose estimates will be used to evaluate the radiation-related risk of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases in this unique cohort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Sergey Trofimik
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Rimma Grakovitch
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Elizabeth Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Iliya Veyalkin
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Olga Polyanskaya
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Vasilina Yauseyenka
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
| | - Evgenia Ostroumova
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Current affiliation is: International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Alexander Rozhko
- Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel, Belarus
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Drozdovitch V, Kryuchkov V, Bakhanova E, Golovanov I, Bazyka D, Gudzenko N, Trotsyuk N, Hatch M, Cahoon EK, Mabuchi K, Bouville A, Chumak V. Estimation of Radiation Doses for a Case-control Study of Thyroid Cancer Among Ukrainian Chernobyl Cleanup Workers. HEALTH PHYSICS 2020; 118:18-35. [PMID: 31764419 PMCID: PMC6880802 DOI: 10.1097/hp.0000000000001120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Thyroid doses were estimated for 607 subjects of a case-control study of thyroid cancer nested in the cohort of 150,813 male Ukrainian cleanup workers who were exposed to radiation as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Individual thyroid doses due to external irradiation, inhalation of I and short-lived radioiodine and radiotellurium isotopes (I, I, I, Te, and Te) during the cleanup mission, and intake of I during residence in contaminated settlements were calculated for all study subjects, along with associated uncertainty distributions. The average thyroid dose due to all exposure pathways combined was estimated to be 199 mGy (median: 47 mGy; range: 0.15 mGy to 9.0 Gy), with averages of 140 mGy (median: 20 mGy; range: 0.015 mGy to 3.6 Gy) from external irradiation during the cleanup mission, 44 mGy (median: 12 mGy; range: ~0 mGy to 1.7 Gy) due to I inhalation, 42 mGy (median: 7.3 mGy; range: 0.001 mGy to 3.4 Gy) due to I intake during residence, and 11 mGy (median: 1.6 mGy; range: ~0 mGy to 0.38 Gy) due to inhalation of short-lived radionuclides. Internal exposure of the thyroid gland to I contributed more than 50% of the total thyroid dose in 45% of the study subjects. The uncertainties in the individual stochastic doses were characterized by a mean geometric standard deviation of 2.0, 1.8, 2.0, and 2.6 for external irradiation, inhalation of I, inhalation of short-lived radionuclides, and residential exposure, respectively. The models used for dose calculations were validated against instrument measurements done shortly after the accident. Results of the validation showed that thyroid doses could be estimated retrospectively for Chernobyl cleanup workers two to three decades after the accident with a reasonable degree of reliability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Victor Kryuchkov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, 123182, Russia
| | - Elena Bakhanova
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Ivan Golovanov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, 123182, Russia
| | - Dimitry Bazyka
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Gudzenko
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Natalia Trotsyuk
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Elizabeth K. Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - André Bouville
- U. S. National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA (retired)
| | - Vadim Chumak
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
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Drozdovitch V. Radiation Exposure to the Thyroid After the Chernobyl Accident. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2020; 11:569041. [PMID: 33469445 PMCID: PMC7813882 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2020.569041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The Chernobyl accident resulted in a considerable release of radioactivity to the atmosphere, particularly of Iodine-131 (131I), with the greatest contamination occurring in Belarus, Ukraine, and western part of Russia. MATERIAL AND METHODS Increase in thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases incidence in population exposed to Chernobyl fallout in these counties was the major health effect of the accident. Therefore, a lot of attention was paid to the thyroid doses, mainly, the 131I intake during two months after the accident. This paper reviews thyroid doses, both the individual for the subjects of radiation epidemiological studies and population-average doses. Exposure to 131I intake and other exposure pathways to population of affected regions and the Chernobyl cleanup workers (liquidators) are considered. RESULTS Individual thyroid doses due to 131I intake varied up to 42 Gy and depended on the age of the person, the region where a person was exposed, and their cow's milk consumption habits. Population-average thyroid doses among children of youngest age reached up to 0.75 Gy in the most contaminated area, the Gomel Oblast, in Belarus. Intake of 131I was the main pathway of exposure to the thyroid gland; its mean contribution to the thyroid dose in affected regions was more than 90%. The mean thyroid dose from inhalation of 131I for early Chernobyl cleanup workers was estimated to be 0.18 Gy. Individual thyroid doses due to different exposure pathways varied among 1,137 cleanup workers included in the epidemiological studies up to 9 Gy. Uncertainties associated with dose estimates, in terms of mean geometric standard deviation of individual stochastic doses, varied in range from 1.6 for doses based on individual-radiation measurements to 2.6 for "modelled" doses. CONCLUSION The 131I was the most radiologically important radionuclide that resulted in radiation exposure to the thyroid gland and cause an increase in the of rate of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases in population exposed after the Chernobyl accident.
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Zupunski L, Ostroumova E, Drozdovitch V, Veyalkin I, Ivanov V, Yamashita S, Cardis E, Kesminiene A. Thyroid Cancer after Exposure to Radioiodine in Childhood and Adolescence: 131I-Related Risk and the Role of Selected Host and Environmental Factors. Cancers (Basel) 2019; 11:E1481. [PMID: 31581656 PMCID: PMC6826556 DOI: 10.3390/cancers11101481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we expanded on a previously published population-based case-control study on subjects exposed to iodine-131 (131I) from Chernobyl fallout at age ≤18 years using improved individual 131I absorbed thyroid doses. We further studied the impact of iodine deficiency and other selected host risk factors on 131I-related thyroid cancer risk after childhood exposure. We included 298 thyroid cancer cases and 1934 matched controls from the most contaminated regions of Belarus and the Russian Federation. We performed statistical analysis using conditional logistic regression models. We found a statistically significant linear quadratic dose-effect association between thyroid cancer and 131I thyroid dose in the range up to 5 grays (Gy). Self-reported personal history of benign nodules, any thyroid disease except thyroid cancer, family history of thyroid cancer, increased body mass index, and deficient stable iodine status at the time of the accident were statistically significant risk factors (p < 0.05 for each factor) for thyroid cancer after adjustment for thyroid 131I dose effect. Subjects who received stable iodine supplementation in the years after the accident had a significantly lower 131I-related risk of thyroid cancer. Our findings are important for thyroid cancer prevention, and for further improvement of medical surveillance in the affected populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ljubica Zupunski
- Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, 69372 Lyon, France; (E.O.); (A.K.)
| | - Evgenia Ostroumova
- Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, 69372 Lyon, France; (E.O.); (A.K.)
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, U.S. DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA;
| | - Ilya Veyalkin
- The Republican Research Centre for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 246040 Gomel, Republic of Belarus;
| | - Viktor Ivanov
- National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Obninsk, 249036 Kaluga Region, Russia;
| | | | - Elisabeth Cardis
- ISGlobal-Barcelona Institute for Global Health, 08003 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Ausrele Kesminiene
- Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer, WHO, 69372 Lyon, France; (E.O.); (A.K.)
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Drozdovitch V, Kryuchkov V, Chumak V, Kutsen S, Golovanov I, Bouville A. Thyroid doses due to Iodine-131 inhalation among Chernobyl cleanup workers. RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS 2019; 58:183-194. [PMID: 30847555 PMCID: PMC6508997 DOI: 10.1007/s00411-019-00781-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Several hundred thousand individuals, called 'cleanup workers' or 'liquidators', who took part in decontamination and recovery activities between 1986 and 1990 within the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, were mainly exposed to external irradiation. However, those who were involved in cleanup activities during the 10-day period of atmospheric releases also received doses to the thyroid gland due to internal irradiation resulting essentially from inhalation of 131I. The paper presents the methodology and results of the calculation of individual thyroid doses for cleanup workers. The model that was used considers several factors, including the ground-level outdoor air concentrations of 131I at the locations of residence and work of the cleanup workers, the reduction of 131I activity in inhaled air associated with indoor occupancy, the time spent indoors, the breathing rate, which depends on the type of physical activity, and the possible intake of potassium iodine (KI) for iodine prophylaxis. Thyroid doses were calculated for a group of 594 cleanup workers with individual measurements of exposure rate against the neck, called 'direct thyroid measurements', that were performed from 30 April to 5 May 1986. The measured values of exposure rate were corrected to subtract the contribution of short-lived radioiodine isotopes in the thyroid to the detector response. The average thyroid dose due to 131I inhalation by the cleanup workers was estimated to be 180 mGy, while the median was 110 mGy. Most of the cleanup workers (73%) received thyroid doses ranging from 50 to 500 mGy. The highest individual dose from 131I inhalation among the cleanup workers with direct thyroid measurements was 4.5 Gy. To validate the model, the 131I activities in the thyroids that were calculated using the model were compared with those derived from the direct thyroid measurements. The mean of the ratios of measured-to-calculated activities of 131I in the thyroid was found to be 1.6 while the median of those ratios was 0.8. For 60 cleanup workers with direct thyroid measurements, a detailed description of hour-by-hour whereabouts and work history was available. For these cleanup workers the mean of the ratios of measured-to-calculated activities was found to be 1.2 and the median of those ratios was 1.0. These encouraging results suggest that the thyroid dose due to 131I inhalation could be estimated for Chernobyl cleanup workers with a reasonable degree of reliability even in the absence of direct thyroid measurements. However, this conclusion assumes that detailed information on whereabouts and work history could be obtained for those cleanup workers who were not measured.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9778, USA.
| | - Victor Kryuchkov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, 123182, Russia
| | - Vadim Chumak
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, 53 Melnikova Street, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine
| | - Semion Kutsen
- Research Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, 11 Bobruiskaya Street, 220050, Minsk, Belarus
| | - Ivan Golovanov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Centre, 46 Zhivopisnaya Street, Moscow, 123182, Russia
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Kutsen S, Khrutchinsky A, Minenko V, Voillequé P, Bouville A, Drozdovitch V. Influence of the external and internal radioactive contamination of the body and the clothes on the results of the thyroidal 131I measurements conducted in Belarus after the Chernobyl accident-Part 2: Monte Carlo simulation of response of detectors near the thyroid. RADIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL BIOPHYSICS 2019; 58:215-226. [PMID: 31053911 PMCID: PMC6519107 DOI: 10.1007/s00411-019-00785-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes the calculation of the response of the most common types of radiation detectors that were used within the first few weeks after the Chernobyl accident to determine the activity of 131I in the thyroids of Belarusian subjects of an epidemiologic study of thyroid cancer. The radiation detectors, which were placed against the necks of the subjects, measured the exposure rates due to the emission of gamma rays resulting from the radioactive decay of 131I in their thyroids. Because of the external and internal radioactive contamination of the monitored subjects, gamma radiation from many radionuclides in various locations contributed to the exposure rates recorded by the detectors. To estimate accurately the contribution from gamma rays emitted from various internal and external parts of the body, the calibration factors of the radiation detectors, expressed in kBq per µR h- 1, were calculated, by means of Monte Carlo simulation, for external irradiation from unit activities of 17 radionuclides located on 19 parts of the body, as well as for internal irradiation from the same 17 radionuclides in the lungs, from caesium radionuclides distributed uniformly in the whole body, and from 131I in the thyroid. The calculations were performed for six body sizes, representative of the age range of the subjects. In a companion paper, the levels of external and internal contamination of the body were estimated for a variety of exposure conditions. The results presented in the two papers were combined to calculate the 131I activities in the thyroids of all 11,732 Belarusian study subjects of an epidemiologic study of thyroid cancer and, in turn, their thyroid doses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Semion Kutsen
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | | | - Victor Minenko
- Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, Belarus
| | | | - André Bouville
- U.S. National Cancer Institute (retired), Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 7E548 MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9778, USA.
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Wu Y, Hoffman FO, Apostoaei AI, Kwon D, Thomas BA, Glass R, Zablotska LB. Methods to account for uncertainties in exposure assessment in studies of environmental exposures. Environ Health 2019; 18:31. [PMID: 30961632 PMCID: PMC6454753 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-019-0468-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Accurate exposure estimation in environmental epidemiological studies is crucial for health risk assessment. Failure to account for uncertainties in exposure estimation could lead to biased results in exposure-response analyses. Assessment of the effects of uncertainties in exposure estimation on risk estimates received a lot of attention in radiation epidemiology and in several studies of diet and air pollution. The objective of this narrative review is to examine the commonly used statistical approaches to account for exposure estimation errors in risk analyses and to suggest how each could be applied in environmental epidemiological studies. MAIN TEXT We review two main error types in estimating exposures in epidemiological studies: shared and unshared errors and their subtypes. We describe the four main statistical approaches to adjust for exposure estimation uncertainties (regression calibration, simulation-extrapolation, Monte Carlo maximum likelihood and Bayesian model averaging) along with examples to give readers better understanding of their advantages and limitations. We also explain the advantages of using a 2-dimensional Monte-Carlo (2DMC) simulation method to quantify the effect of uncertainties in exposure estimates using full-likelihood methods. For exposures that are estimated independently between subjects and are more likely to introduce unshared errors, regression calibration and SIMEX methods are able to adequately account for exposure uncertainties in risk analyses. When an uncalibrated measuring device is used or estimation parameters with uncertain mean values are applied to a group of people, shared errors could potentially be large. In this case, Monte Carlo maximum likelihood and Bayesian model averaging methods based on estimates of exposure from the 2DMC simulations would work well. The majority of reviewed studies show relatively moderate changes (within 100%) in risk estimates after accounting for uncertainties in exposure estimates, except for the two studies which doubled/tripled naïve estimates. CONCLUSIONS In this paper, we demonstrate various statistical methods to account for uncertain exposure estimates in risk analyses. The differences in the results of various adjustment methods could be due to various error structures in datasets and whether or not a proper statistical method was applied. Epidemiological studies of environmental exposures should include exposure-response analyses accounting for uncertainties in exposure estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- You Wu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 2nd floor, Box 0560, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
- Center for Design and Analysis, Amgen, Inc., 1 Amgen Center Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 USA
| | - F. Owen Hoffman
- Oak Ridge Center for Risk Analysis, Inc., 102 Donner Drive, Oak Ridge, TN USA
| | - A. Iulian Apostoaei
- Oak Ridge Center for Risk Analysis, Inc., 102 Donner Drive, Oak Ridge, TN USA
| | - Deukwoo Kwon
- Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, 1475 NW 12th Avenue, Miami, FL USA
| | - Brian A. Thomas
- Oak Ridge Center for Risk Analysis, Inc., 102 Donner Drive, Oak Ridge, TN USA
| | - Racquel Glass
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 2nd floor, Box 0560, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
| | - Lydia B. Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, 550 16th Street, 2nd floor, Box 0560, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
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Beaumont T, Rimlinger M, Broggio D, Ideias PC, Franck D. A systematic experimental study of parameters influencing 131-iodine in vivo spectroscopic measurements using age-specific thyroid phantoms. JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION 2018; 38:651-665. [PMID: 29576555 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6498/aab967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In case of nuclear accident, the internal exposure monitoring of the population will preferably focus on the detection of 131I in the thyroid by in vivo monitoring. In most cases, the calibration of in vivo monitoring is performed with an adult thyroid phantom, which raises doubts regarding the relevance of child exposure assessment. In this study, the influence on the calibration of the thyroid volume, the counting distance and the positioning variations are studied experimentally in a systematic way. A NaI and a germanium detector along with a realistic age-specific set of four thyroid phantoms were used to carry out this study. The thyroid phantom volumes correspond to the following ages: 5, 10, 15 and adult. It was found that the counting efficiency varies linearly with the thyroid volumes for both detectors and whatever the phantom-detector distance is. The variation in counting distance strongly influences the measurement. Whatever the thyroid volume, a 30% difference in efficiency was found between the measurement at the contact and 1 cm for the NaI detector. A mathematical model giving the variation of the counting efficiency as a function of phantom-detector distance is provided. The study of positioning uncertainty has shown that the lateral/vertical displacements induce negligible efficiency variations and that it is relatively independent of the thyroid volume. The counting distance is a major parameter, which must be considered to assess the uncertainty of the subjects' measurements. The data reported here might serve to extract useful orders of magnitude when similar detectors are used. For other detectors, a similar trend might be expected and the information provided here could reduce the amount of experimental work needed to obtain it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany Beaumont
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-SANTE/SDOS/LEDI, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
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Samet JM, Berrington de González A, Dauer LT, Hatch M, Kosti O, Mettler FA, Satyamitra MM. Gilbert W. Beebe Symposium on 30 Years after the Chernobyl Accident: Current and Future Studies on Radiation Health Effects. Radiat Res 2017; 189:5-18. [PMID: 29136393 DOI: 10.1667/rr14791.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
This commentary summarizes the presentations and discussions from the 2016 Gilbert W. Beebe symposium "30 years after the Chernobyl accident: Current and future studies on radiation health effects." The symposium was hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies). The symposium focused on the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident, looking retrospectively at what has been learned and prospectively at potential future discoveries using emerging 21st Century research methodologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan M Samet
- a Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | | | | | | | - Ourania Kosti
- d National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC
| | - Fred A Mettler
- e University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Till JE, Beck HL, Grogan HA, Caffrey EA. A review of dosimetry used in epidemiological studies considered to evaluate the linear no-threshold (LNT) dose-response model for radiation protection. Int J Radiat Biol 2017; 93:1128-1144. [DOI: 10.1080/09553002.2017.1337280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Cahoon EK, Nadyrov EA, Polyanskaya ON, Yauseyenka VV, Veyalkin IV, Yeudachkova TI, Maskvicheva TI, Minenko VF, Liu W, Drozdovitch V, Mabuchi K, Little MP, Zablotska LB, McConnell RJ, Hatch M, Peters KO, Rozhko AV, Brenner AV. Risk of Thyroid Nodules in Residents of Belarus Exposed to Chernobyl Fallout as Children and Adolescents. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2017; 102:2207-2217. [PMID: 28368520 PMCID: PMC5505199 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2016-3842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT Although radiation exposure is an important predictor of thyroid cancer on diagnosis of a thyroid nodule, the relationship between childhood radiation exposure and thyroid nodules has not been comprehensively evaluated. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between internal I-131 thyroid dose and thyroid nodules in young adults exposed during childhood. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this cross-sectional study, we screened residents of Belarus aged ≤18 years at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident for thyroid disease (median age, 21 years) with thyroid palpation, ultrasonography, blood/urine analysis, and medical follow-up when appropriate. Eligible participants (N = 11,421) had intact thyroid glands and doses based on direct individual thyroid activity measurements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Excess odds ratios per Gray (EOR/Gy, scaled at age 5 years at exposure) for any thyroid nodule and for nodules grouped by cytology/histology, diameter size, and singularity. RESULTS Risk of any thyroid nodule increased significantly with I-131 dose and, for a given dose, with younger age at exposure. The EOR/Gy (95% confidence intervals) for neoplastic nodules (3.82; 0.87 to 15.52) was significantly higher than for nonneoplastic nodules (0.32; <0.03 to 0.70) and did not vary by size; whereas the EOR/Gy for nonneoplastic nodules did vary by size (P = 0.02) and was 1.55 (0.36 to 5.46) for nodules ≥10 mm and 0.02 (<-0.02 to 0.70) for nodules <10 mm. EORs/Gy for single and multiple nodules were comparable. CONCLUSIONS Childhood exposure to internal I-131 is associated with increased risk of neoplastic thyroid nodules of any size and nonneoplastic nodules ≥10 mm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth K. Cahoon
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Eldar A. Nadyrov
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Olga N. Polyanskaya
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Vasilina V. Yauseyenka
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Ilya V. Veyalkin
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Tamara I. Yeudachkova
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Tamara I. Maskvicheva
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Victor F. Minenko
- Belarusian Medical Academy of Post-Graduate Education, Minsk 220714, Belarus
| | - Wayne Liu
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Mark P. Little
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Lydia B. Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94118
| | | | - Maureen Hatch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Kamau O. Peters
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
| | - Alexander V. Rozhko
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Alina V. Brenner
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9778
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28
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Drozdovitch V, Chumak V, Kesminiene A, Ostroumova E, Bouville A. Doses for post-Chernobyl epidemiological studies: are they reliable? JOURNAL OF RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION 2016; 36:R36-R73. [PMID: 27355439 PMCID: PMC9426290 DOI: 10.1088/0952-4746/36/3/r36] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
On 26 April 2016, thirty years will have elapsed since the occurrence of the Chernobyl accident, which has so far been the most severe in the history of the nuclear reactor industry. Numerous epidemiological studies were conducted to evaluate the possible health consequences of the accident. Since the credibility of the association between the radiation exposure and health outcome is highly dependent on the adequacy of the dosimetric quantities used in these studies, this paper makes an effort to overview the methods used to estimate individual doses and the associated uncertainties in the main analytical epidemiological studies (i.e. cohort or case-control) related to the Chernobyl accident. Based on the thorough analysis and comparison with other radiation studies, the authors conclude that individual doses for the Chernobyl analytical epidemiological studies have been calculated with a relatively high degree of reliability and well-characterized uncertainties, and that they compare favorably with many other non-Chernobyl studies. The major strengths of the Chernobyl studies are: (1) they are grounded on a large number of measurements, either performed on humans or made in the environment; and (2) extensive effort has been invested to evaluate the uncertainties associated with the dose estimates. Nevertheless, gaps in the methodology are identified and suggestions for the possible improvement of the current dose estimates are made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vadim Chumak
- National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | | | | | - André Bouville
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Retired
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29
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Drozdovitch V, Kukhta T, Minenko V, Trofimik S, Bouville A, Potischman N. Reliability of Questionnaire Data in the Distant Past: Relevance for Radiation Exposure Assessment. HEALTH PHYSICS 2016; 110:74-92. [PMID: 26606068 PMCID: PMC4662084 DOI: 10.1097/hp.0000000000000406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Interviews with questionnaires are often employed to provide information that may be used for exposure assessment, although the reliability of such information is largely unknown. In this work, the consistency of individual behavior and dietary data collected by means of personal interviews during two study screenings was evaluated. Data were collected for a cohort of about 11,000 persons exposed to 131I in childhood and adolescence shortly after the Chernobyl accident. The best recollection was found for residential history, milk consumption patterns, and, to a lesser degree, stable iodine administration, while reproducibility of responses about consumption of milk products and leafy vegetables was poor. Consistency of information reported during the personal interviews by the study subjects younger than 10 y at the time of the accident was somewhat lower than for the subjects aged 10-18 y. The authors found slightly better reproducibility of responses for female study subjects than for male subjects and when the time span between two interviews was shorter. In the majority of instances, the best consistency in responses was observed when the mother was interviewed during both screenings rather than the subject. Information that was collected during two personal interviews was used to calculate two sets of thyroid doses due to 131I intakes. This study shows that, because dose-related measurements are available for all study subjects, the quality of individual behavior and dietary data has, in general, a small influence on the results of the retrospective dose assessment. For studies in which dose-related measurements are not available for all study subjects and only modeling is used for dose reconstruction, high quality individual behavior and dietary data for the study subjects are required to provide realistic and reliable dose estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Tatiana Kukhta
- United Institute of Informatics Problems, Minsk, Belarus
| | | | | | | | - Nancy Potischman
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
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30
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Bogdanova TI, Zurnadzhy LY, Nikiforov YE, Leeman-Neill RJ, Tronko MD, Chanock S, Mabuchi K, Likhtarov IA, Kovgan LM, Drozdovitch V, Little MP, Hatch M, Zablotska LB, Shpak VM, McConnell RJ, Brenner AV. Histopathological features of papillary thyroid carcinomas detected during four screening examinations of a Ukrainian-American cohort. Br J Cancer 2015; 113:1556-64. [PMID: 26625214 PMCID: PMC4705885 DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2015.372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2015] [Revised: 09/03/2015] [Accepted: 09/27/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are limited data on the histopathology of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) diagnosed in irradiated populations. We evaluated the associations between iodine-131 dose and the histopathological characteristics of post-Chernobyl PTCs, the changes in these characteristics over time, and their associations with selected somatic mutations. METHODS This study included 115 PTCs diagnosed in a Ukrainian-American cohort (n=13,243) during prescreening and four successive thyroid screenings. Of these PTCs, 65 were subjected to somatic mutation profiling. All individuals were <18 years at the time of the Chernobyl accident and had direct thyroid radioactivity measurements. Statistical analyses included multivariate linear and logistic regression. RESULTS We identified a borderline significant linear-quadratic association (P=0.063) between iodine-131 dose and overall tumour invasiveness (presence of extrathyroidal extension, lymphatic/vascular invasion, and regional or distant metastases). Irrespective of dose, tumours with chromosomal rearrangements were more likely to have lymphatic/vascular invasion than tumours without chromosomal rearrangements (P=0.020) or tumours with BRAF or RAS point mutations (P=0.008). Controlling for age, there were significant time trends in decreasing tumour size (P<0.001), the extent of lymphatic/vascular invasion (P=0.005), and overall invasiveness (P=0.026). CONCLUSIONS We determined that the invasive properties of PTCs that develop in iodine-131-exposed children may be associated with radiation dose. In addition, based on a subset of cases, tumours with chromosomal rearrangements appear to have a more invasive phenotype. The increase in small, less invasive PTCs over time is a consequence of repeated screening examinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetiana I Bogdanova
- Laboratory of Morphology of Endocrine System, State Institution ‘V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Vishegorodskaya Street 69, Kyiv 254114, Ukraine
| | - Liudmyla Yu Zurnadzhy
- Laboratory of Morphology of Endocrine System, State Institution ‘V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Vishegorodskaya Street 69, Kyiv 254114, Ukraine
| | - Yuri E Nikiforov
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3477 Euler Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Rebecca J Leeman-Neill
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3477 Euler Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Mykola D Tronko
- Department of Fundamental and Applied Problems of Endocrinology, State Institution ‘V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Vishegorodskaya Street 69, Kyiv 254114, Ukraine
| | - Stephen Chanock
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
| | - Kiyohiko Mabuchi
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
| | - Ilya A Likhtarov
- Department of Dosimetry and Radiation Protection, State Institution ‘National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Melnikova Street 53, Kyiv 04050, Ukraine
| | - Leonila M Kovgan
- Laboratory of Radiation Protection, State Institution ‘National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Melnikova Street 53, Kyiv 04050, Ukraine
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
| | - Mark P Little
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
| | - Maureen Hatch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
| | - Lydia B Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, 3333 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94118-1944, USA
| | - Viktor M Shpak
- Department of Medical Consequences of the Chernobyl accident and International Cooperation, State Institution ‘V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine', Vishegorodskaya Street 69, Kyiv 254114, Ukraine
| | - Robert J McConnell
- The Thyroid Center, Columbia University, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY, 10032, USA
- Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alina V Brenner
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9778, Bethesda, MD 20892-9778, USA
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31
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Little MP, Kwon D, Zablotska LB, Brenner AV, Cahoon EK, Rozhko AV, Polyanskaya ON, Minenko VF, Golovanov I, Bouville A, Drozdovitch V. Impact of Uncertainties in Exposure Assessment on Thyroid Cancer Risk among Persons in Belarus Exposed as Children or Adolescents Due to the Chernobyl Accident. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0139826. [PMID: 26465339 PMCID: PMC4605727 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 09/16/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The excess incidence of thyroid cancer in Ukraine and Belarus observed a few years after the Chernobyl accident is considered to be largely the result of 131I released from the reactor. Although the Belarus thyroid cancer prevalence data has been previously analyzed, no account was taken of dose measurement error. Methods We examined dose-response patterns in a thyroid screening prevalence cohort of 11,732 persons aged under 18 at the time of the accident, diagnosed during 1996–2004, who had direct thyroid 131I activity measurement, and were resident in the most radio-actively contaminated regions of Belarus. Three methods of dose-error correction (regression calibration, Monte Carlo maximum likelihood, Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo) were applied. Results There was a statistically significant (p<0.001) increasing dose-response for prevalent thyroid cancer, irrespective of regression-adjustment method used. Without adjustment for dose errors the excess odds ratio was 1.51 Gy− (95% CI 0.53, 3.86), which was reduced by 13% when regression-calibration adjustment was used, 1.31 Gy− (95% CI 0.47, 3.31). A Monte Carlo maximum likelihood method yielded an excess odds ratio of 1.48 Gy− (95% CI 0.53, 3.87), about 2% lower than the unadjusted analysis. The Bayesian method yielded a maximum posterior excess odds ratio of 1.16 Gy− (95% BCI 0.20, 4.32), 23% lower than the unadjusted analysis. There were borderline significant (p = 0.053–0.078) indications of downward curvature in the dose response, depending on the adjustment methods used. There were also borderline significant (p = 0.102) modifying effects of gender on the radiation dose trend, but no significant modifying effects of age at time of accident, or age at screening as modifiers of dose response (p>0.2). Conclusions In summary, the relatively small contribution of unshared classical dose error in the current study results in comparatively modest effects on the regression parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P. Little
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Deukwoo Kwon
- Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America
| | - Lydia B. Zablotska
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Alina V. Brenner
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth K. Cahoon
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Alexander V. Rozhko
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | - Olga N. Polyanskaya
- The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, Gomel 246040, Belarus
| | | | - Ivan Golovanov
- Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - André Bouville
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Vladimir Drozdovitch
- Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
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