title: A cohort study of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases after the Chornobyl accident: objectives, design and methods.
abstract: The thyroid gland in children is one of the organs that is most sensitive to external exposure to X and gamma rays. However, data on the risk of thyroid cancer in children after exposure to radioactive iodines are sparse. The Chornobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986 led to the exposure of large populations to radioactive iodines, particularly (131)I. This paper describes an ongoing cohort study being conducted in Belarus and Ukraine that includes 25,161 subjects under the age of 18 years in 1986 who are being screened for thyroid diseases every 2 years. Individual thyroid doses are being estimated for all study subjects based on measurement of the radioactivity of the thyroid gland made in 1986 together with a radioecological model and interview data. Approximately 100 histologically confirmed thyroid cancers were detected as a consequence of the first round of screening. The data will enable fitting appropriate dose-response models, which are important in both radiation epidemiology and public health for prediction of risks from exposure to radioactive iodines from medical sources and any future nuclear accidents. Plans are to continue to follow-up the cohort for at least three screening cycles, which will lead to more precise estimates of risk.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: Valentin A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Stezhko
authors.forename: Elena E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Buglova
authors.forename: Larissa I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Danilova
authors.forename: Valentina M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Drozd
authors.forename: Nikolaj A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Krysenko
authors.forename: Nadia R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Lesnikova
authors.forename: Victor F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Minenko
authors.forename: Vladislav A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Ostapenko
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Petrenko
authors.forename: Olga N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Polyanskaya
authors.forename: Valery A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Rzheutski
authors.forename: Mykola D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tronko
authors.forename: Olga O
authors.initials: OO
authors.lastname: Bobylyova
authors.forename: Tetyana I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Bogdanova
authors.forename: Ovsiy V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Ephstein
authors.forename: Iryna A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Kairo
authors.forename: Olexander V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Kostin
authors.forename: Ilya A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Likhtarev
authors.forename: Valentin V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Markov
authors.forename: Valery A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Oliynik
authors.forename: Viktor M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Shpak
authors.forename: Valeriy P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Tereshchenko
authors.forename: Galina A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Zamotayeva
authors.forename: Gilbert W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Beebe
authors.forename: Andre C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bouville
authors.forename: Aaron B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Brill
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Burch
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greenebaum
authors.forename: Geoffrey R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: Nickolas K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Luckyanov
authors.forename: Ihor J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Masnyk
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McConnell
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Terry L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Voillequé
authors.forename: Lydia B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Zablotska
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008297:Male; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011210:Power Plants; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D011874:Radiometry; D012107:Research Design; D012306:Risk; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000528:radiation effects; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014455:Ukraine
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes