title: Radiation effects on mortality from solid cancers other than lung, liver, and bone cancer in the Mayak worker cohort: 1948-2008.
abstract: Radiation effects on mortality from solid cancers other than lung, liver, and bone cancer in the Mayak worker cohort: 1948-2008. The cohort of Mayak Production Association (PA) workers in Russia offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of prolonged low dose rate external gamma exposures and exposure to plutonium in a working age population. We examined radiation effects on the risk of mortality from solid cancers excluding sites of primary plutonium deposition (lung, liver, and bone surface) among 25,757 workers who were first employed in 1948-1982. During the period 1948-2008, there were 1,825 deaths from cancers other than lung, liver and bone. Using colon dose as a representative external dose, a linear dose response model described the data well. The excess relative risk per Gray for external gamma exposure was 0.16 (95% CI: 0.07 - 0.26) when unadjusted for plutonium exposure and 0.12 (95% CI 0.03 - 0.21) when adjusted for plutonium dose and monitoring status. There was no significant effect modification by sex or attained age. Plutonium exposure was not significantly associated with the group of cancers analyzed after adjusting for monitoring status. Site-specific risks were uncertainly estimated but positive for 13 of the 15 sites evaluated with a statistically significant estimate only for esophageal cancer. Comparison with estimates based on the acute exposures in atomic bomb survivors suggests that the excess relative risk per Gray for prolonged external exposure in Mayak workers may be lower than that for acute exposure but, given the uncertainties, the possibility of equal effects cannot be dismissed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, Ozyorsk Russia.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sokolnikov
authors.affiliation: Hirosoft International, Eureka, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Dale
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.affiliation: Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ethel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America; Section of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon France.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schonfeld
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Epidemiology, Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, Ozyorsk Russia.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koshurnikova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality*; D009688:Nuclear Reactors; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011005:Plutonium / Q000633:toxicity; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012800:Siberia
chemical_list: D011005:Plutonium