title: Geographical analysis of thyroid cancer in young people from northern England: evidence for a sustained excess in females in Cumbria.
abstract: A previous study found a thyroid cancer excess in Cumbria following the Chernobyl explosion, but did not analyse sex-specific effects. This study examines sex differences in the incidence of thyroid cancer. Ninety-five primary thyroid carcinomas (69 females, 26 males) diagnosed in those aged 0-24 during 1968-2005 were identified from the Northern Region Young Persons' Malignant Disease Registry. Age-standardised incidence rates (ASRs), rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. For males, the ASR was 0.6 per million person-years during the pre-Chernobyl period (1968-1986), and was 1.8 per million person-years during the post-Chernobyl period (1987-2005). For females, the ASR was 2.4 pre-Chernobyl and was 3.9 post-Chernobyl. The previously noted excess in Cumbria was entirely confined to females (Cumbrian females: RR for post-Chernobyl compared with pre-Chernobyl=10.8; 95% CI: 1.4-85.3). These findings may be consistent with sex-specific differences in susceptibility to an environmental exposure, such as fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Sir James Spence Institute, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Brooke L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Magnanti
authors.forename: M Tevfik
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Dorak
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Alan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Craft
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Richard J Q
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McNally
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012042:Registries; D012737:Sex Factors; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult