DID CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT CONTRIBUTE TO THE RISE OF THYROID CANCER IN TURKEY?

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology and Oncology
• Public Health
• Radiation Epidemiology

Background:

• Radioactivity is a known risk factor for thyroid cancer.
• The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident is a significant historical event for studying radiation's effects.
• A geographical area near Chernobyl was selected for this study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if the Chernobyl nuclear accident had a detrimental impact on thyroid cancer rates.
• To analyze thyroid cancer trends over distinct time periods post-Chernobyl.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study analyzed data from 4251 patients treated between 1990 and 2015.
• Statistical analysis utilized chi-square and Fisher exact tests.
• Patient data was categorized into three periods: 1990-1996 (latent), 1997-2003 (sensitive), and 2004-2015 (control).

Main Results:

• Thyroid cancer incidence rose significantly from 1.71% in 1990-1996 to 6.83% in 1997-2003.
• Rates continued to increase to 8.59% in 2004-2015, with a notable geographic variation.
• The mean age of patients with malignant thyroid cancer decreased over the study periods.

Conclusions:

• The Chernobyl accident likely contributed to the observed increase in thyroid cancer rates.
• A significant rise in thyroid cancer was detected in the initial periods after the accident.
• Further research may be needed to fully understand long-term impacts and geographic vulnerabilities.