[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-332239-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-332239-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","thyroid-cancer-in-regions-most-contaminated-after-the-chernobyl-disaster","Thyroid Cancer in Regions Most Contaminated after the Chernobyl Disaster","","Exposure to ionizing radiation, especially during childhood, is a well-established risk factor for thyroid cancer. After the 1986 Chernobyl accident, thyroid cancer registrations from 1991–2015 in people under 18 in Belarus, Ukraine, and the most contaminated Russian oblasts exceeded 19,000. Yet UNSCEAR estimates that radiation-attributable incidence among non-evacuated residents is about 0.25. Increased case detection is described as a classic screening effect. The document also addresses revised classification of certain noninvasive lesions and discusses overdiagnosis drivers including age-related increases, iodine deficiency, and nitrate-containing drinking water.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/thyroid-cancer-in-regions-most-contaminated-after-the-chernobyl-disaster/332239/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/thyroid-cancer-in-regions-most-contaminated-after-the-chernobyl-disaster/332239.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Noah","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-07","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why is childhood exposure to ionizing radiation important for thyroid cancer risk?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Ionizing radiation exposure during childhood is identified as a well-established risk factor for thyroid cancer.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does UNSCEAR estimate about the share of thyroid cancer incidence attributable to radiation in non-evacuated residents?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"UNSCEAR estimates the attributable fraction is of the order of 0.25, with uncertainty ranging from 0.07 to 0.5.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What other factors may contribute to apparent increases in registered thyroid tumors after Chernobyl?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The document points to screening effects from widespread modern examinations, plus possible roles of age-related incidence changes, iodine deficiency among children, and high-nitrate drinking water.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},332239,1790904936,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":123,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},8796095462418,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80000253c1241d02b47?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778826106357471780","Thyroid Cancer in Regions Most Contaminated after the Chernobyl Disaster  \nMarek K. Janiak (MD, PhD)1*, Grzegorz Kamiński (MD, PhD)2  \nABSTRACT  \nExposure to ionizing radiation, especially during childhood, is a well-established risk factor for thyroid cancer. Following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident the total number of cases of thyroid cancer registered between 1991 and 2015 in males and females who were less than 18 years old exceeded 19,000 (in Belarus and Ukraine, and in the most contaminated oblasts of the Russian Federation) . However, as indicated by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation the fraction of the incidence of thyroid cancer attributable to radiation exposure among the non-evacuated residents of the contaminated regions of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia is of the order of 0.25. Apparently, the increased registration of thyroid neoplasms in the parts of these countries is a classical ‘screening effect’, i.e., massive diagnostic examinations of the risk-aware populations performed with modern eqipment resulting in detection of many occult neoplasms (incidentalomas) . Moreover, one type of thyroid cancer previously called ‘encapsulated follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma’ is non-invasive and instead of ‘carcinoma’ should now be recognized as‘noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features.’ Other potential causes of overdiagnosing of thyroid tumors include increase of the spontaneous incidence rate of this disease with age, iodine deficiency among children from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, and/or consumption by these children of drinking water containing high levels of nitrates that likely coincides with the carcinogenic effect of radiation on the thyroid gland.  \nCitation: Janiak MK, Kamiński G. Thyroid Cancer in Regions Most Contaminated after the Chernobyl Disaster. J Biomed Phys Eng. 2024;14(3):299-308 . doi: 10.31661/jbpe.v0i0 .2402-1722.  \nKeywords  \nChernobyl Accident; Thyroid Cancer; Radiation, Ionizing; Contamination; Incidence; Overdiagnosis  \nIntroduction  \nAtorthey coccurrriticaleddeastigthneflCheawsrnoofbtyhleNuclearRBMK-Powtypeer Plantnuclear (CNPPreactor)s:  \nt 1:24 a.m. on April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear disaster in his  \nwhich were unknown to the operators combined with the general Soviet disregard for safety culture led to explosion of the CNPP’s reactor no.  \n4. The blast, followed by an open-air reactor core fire, over about nine days were releasing considerable amounts of radioactive substances that precipitated mostly onto the nearby areas of the Byelorussian, Ukrainian, and Russian Soviet Socialist Republics, currently known as Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, respectively; in the most heavily afflicted Byelorussian SSR more than 23% of the area and about 20% of the population were contaminated [1] .  \nOne of the major radioactive products of nuclear fission occurring inside nuclear reactors is iodine-131 ( 131I, half-life 8.02 days) . Due to its  \n1 Professor Emeritus, Former Head of the Department of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Warsaw, Poland  \n2 Head of the Department of Endocrinology and Radioisotope Therapy, Military Institute of Medicine, Warsaw, Poland  \n*Corresponding author: Marek K. Janiak Professor Emeritus, Former Head of the Department of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Warsaw, Poland E-mail:  \n[janiak269@gmail.com](janiak269@gmail.com)[ ](janiak269@gmail.com)Received: 5 February 2024  \nAccepted: 13 March 2024  \nJ Biomed Phys Eng 2024; 14(3)  \nCopyright: © Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering  \nThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported License, ([http://creativecommons.org/](http://creativecommons.org/)[ ](http://creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by-nc/4.0/](licenses/by-nc/4.","cbCaivUPQTXImPWE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivUPQTXImPWE","pdf",715659,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"Why is childhood exposure to ionizing radiation important for thyroid cancer risk?\",\"answer\":\"Ionizing radiation exposure during childhood is identified as a well-established risk factor for thyroid cancer.\"},{\"question\":\"What does UNSCEAR estimate about the share of thyroid cancer incidence attributable to radiation in non-evacuated residents?\",\"answer\":\"UNSCEAR estimates the attributable fraction is of the order of 0.25, with uncertainty ranging from 0.07 to 0.5.\"},{\"question\":\"What other factors may contribute to apparent increases in registered thyroid tumors after Chernobyl?\",\"answer\":\"The document points to screening effects from widespread modern examinations, plus possible roles of age-related incidence changes, iodine deficiency among children, and high-nitrate drinking water.\"}]","Thyroid Cancer in Regions Most Contaminated after the Chernobyl Disaster | PDF",1789997478,25]