Abstract
Studies of cancer risk following in utero exposure to ionizing radiation are limited in number, particularly for adult-onset cancers, and the evidence is unclear. In the present study, the risk of solid cancer incidence following in utero radiation exposure is examined among 8466 offspring of female nuclear workers at one of the largest nuclear facilities (Mayak Production Association) in the Russian Federation. Poisson regression methods were used to estimate excess relative risks (ERRs) per Gray (Gy). Mother’s uterine gamma dose served as a surrogate for fetal gamma dose. During 277,002 person-years of follow-up (1948–2009), there were 177 first primary solid cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. Estimated in utero gamma and plutonium doses exceeded zero for 41 and 23 % of offspring, respectively. Of the 177 solid cancers, 66 occurred among individuals with some in utero exposure to gamma radiation and 53 among those with estimated plutonium exposures. There was no indication of a statistically significantly increased risk of solid cancer incidence from in utero gamma exposure (linear ERR/Gy −1.0; upper 95 % confidence limit 0.5). This result was unchanged after accounting for subsequent occupational exposure. Plutonium doses were estimated but were too low to obtain meaningful risk estimates. Thus, in this cohort in utero radiation exposure was not associated with solid cancer risk. This is consistent with an earlier report of mortality in the cohort, but is based on twice as many cases and less susceptible to biases inherent in mortality analyses. Given the relatively young age of the cohort with respect to cancer, continued follow-up should be done as the number of cancer cases increases.
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Acknowledgments
We very much appreciate the support and assistance of Sergey Romanov, Director of the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, and the support of the many Soviet and Russian scientists, technicians, and administrative officials who helped collect, maintain, and review the data over the years. We thank John Harrison and Richard Haylock for the SOLO project coordination, and we further like to thank Alexander Akleyev, Director of the Urals Research Center of Radiation Medicine, for his distinguished leadership of the SOLO work package in which this work was performed.
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This work was part of the SOLO project (Epidemiological Studies of Exposed Southern Urals Populations) funded by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (Grant Agreement Number 249675). The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.
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The project was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute.
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Tsareva, Y., Deltour, I., Sokolnikov, M. et al. Risk of solid cancer in the offspring of female workers of the Mayak nuclear facility in the Southern Urals, Russian Federation. Radiat Environ Biophys 55, 291–297 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-016-0650-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-016-0650-9