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Thyroid Cancer in Chernobyl Children

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Thyroid Cancer

Abstract

It has been well known for 50 years that exposure of the thyroid to ionizing radiation in childhood produces an appreciable cancer risk [7]. The thyroid gland and the bone marrow are considered to be the most radiosensitive cancer sites [24]. Concerning thyroid cancer, many epidemiological studies in populations of children treated with external radiotherapy for benign or malignant lesions in the head and neck region have been published [14, 24, 25, 29, 30]. The diverse indications for treatment have included skin hemangioma, enlarged thymus and tonsils, lymphoid hyperplasia, tuberculous adenitis, acne, and tinea capitis. A pooled analysis [24] using the data of cohort studies in individuals exposed to acute external ionizing radiation before the age of 20 years found an average excess relative risk of 7.7 per Gy [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.9–12], while the excess absolute risk was 4.4 per 104 person-year Gy (95% CI 1.9–10). A linear dose-response function was found to fit the data well; the risk was about 30% lower for fractionated doses than for unfractionated exposure. Almost no thyroid cancers prior to 5 years after irradiation have been reported; the pooled analysis suggested that the excess relative risk per Gy was greatest about 15 years after exposure, but was still elevated 40 or more years after irradiation [24].

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Authors
  1. C. Reiners
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  2. J. Biko
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  3. E. P. Demidchik
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  4. V. Drozd
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik und Poliklinik für Nuklearmedizin, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Sigmund-Freud-Straße 15, 53127, Bonn, Germany

    H.-J. Biersack (Professor Dr. med.) (Professor Dr. med.)

  2. Abteilung für Nuklearmedizin, Universität Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    F. Grünwald (Professor Dr. med.) (Professor Dr. med.)

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Reiners, C., Biko, J., Demidchik, E.P., Drozd, V. (2001). Thyroid Cancer in Chernobyl Children. In: Biersack, HJ., Grünwald, F. (eds) Thyroid Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04610-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04610-4_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-04612-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04610-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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