title: Non-thyroid cancer incidence in Belarusian residents exposed to Chernobyl fallout in childhood and adolescence: Standardized Incidence Ratio analysis, 1997-2011.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While an increased risk of thyroid cancer from post-Chernobyl exposure to Iodine-131 (I-131) in children and adolescents has been well-documented, risks of other cancers or leukemia as a result of residence in radioactively contaminated areas remain uncertain.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied non-thyroid cancer incidence in a cohort of about 12,000 individuals from Belarus exposed under age of 18 years to Chernobyl fallout (median age at the time of Chernobyl accident of 7.9 years). During 15 years of follow-up from1997 through 2011, 54 incident cancers excluding thyroid were identified in the study cohort with 142,968 person-years at risk. We performed Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR) analysis of all solid cancers excluding thyroid (n=42), of leukemia (n=6) and of lymphoma (n=6).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found no significant increase in the incidence of non-thyroid solid cancer (SIR=0.83, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.61; 1.11), lymphoma (SIR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.26; 1.33) or leukemia (SIR=1.78, 95% CI: 0.71; 3.61) in the study cohort as compared with the sex-, age- and calendar-time-specific national rates. These findings may in part reflect the relatively young age of study subjects (median attained age of 33.4 years), and long latency for some radiation-related solid cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found no evidence of statistically significant increases in solid cancer, lymphoma and leukemia incidence 25 years after childhood exposure in the study cohort; however, it is important to continue follow-up non-thyroid cancers in individuals exposed to low-level radiation at radiosensitive ages.
authors: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9776, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA. Electronic address: ostroumovae@iarc.fr.
authors: Evgenia
authors: E
authors: Ostroumova
authors: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9776, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA. Electronic address: hatchm@mail.nih.gov.
authors: Maureen
authors: M
authors: Hatch
authors: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9776, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA. Electronic address: brennera@mail.nih.gov.
authors: Alina
authors: A
authors: Brenner
authors: The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 290 Ilyicha Street, Gomel 246040, Belarus. Electronic address: nadyrov2006@rambler.ru.
authors: Eldar
authors: E
authors: Nadyrov
authors: The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 290 Ilyicha Street, Gomel 246040, Belarus. Electronic address: veyalkin@mail.ru.
authors: Ilya
authors: I
authors: Veyalkin
authors: The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 290 Ilyicha Street, Gomel 246040, Belarus. Electronic address: polyanskaya@tut.by.
authors: Olga
authors: O
authors: Polyanskaya
authors: The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 290 Ilyicha Street, Gomel 246040, Belarus. Electronic address: yaus@mail.ru.
authors: Vasilina
authors: V
authors: Yauseyenka
authors: State Institution "Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Technologies, Informatization, Administration and Management of Health", 7-a Petrus Brovka Street, Minsk 220600, Belarus. Electronic address: spolyakov@belcmt.by.
authors: Semion
authors: S
authors: Polyakov
authors: Cancer Registry, State Establishment "N.N.Alexandrov National Cancer Center of Belarus for Oncology and Medical Radiology", P.O., Lesnoy 223040, Belarus. Electronic address: llevin@omr.med.by.
authors: Leonid
authors: L
authors: Levin
authors: University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Laurel Heights, San Francisco, 94118 CA, USA. Electronic address: lydia.zablotska@ucsf.edu.
authors: Lydia
authors: L
authors: Zablotska
authors: The Republican Research Center for Radiation Medicine and Human Ecology, 290 Ilyicha Street, Gomel 246040, Belarus. Electronic address: rcrm@tut.by.
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Rozhko
authors: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 9609 Medical Center Drive, MSC 9776, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA. Electronic address: mabuchik@mail.nih.gov.
authors: Kiyohiko
authors: K
authors: Mabuchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007938:Leukemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Chernobyl; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Solid cancer; Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR)