Radiation-Related Thyroid Cancer

This article reviews radiation doses to the thyroid and corresponding cancer risks due to planned, existing, and emergency exposure situations, and medical, public, and occupational categories of exposures. Any exposure scenario may deliver a range of doses to the thyroid, and the risk for cancer is addressed along with modifying factors. The consequences of the Chornobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plants accidents are described, summarizing the information on thyroid cancer epidemiology, treatment and prognosis, clinicopathological characteristics, and genetic alterations. The Chornobyl thyroid cancers evolve in time: becoming less aggressive and driver shifting from fusions to point mutations. A comparison of thyroid cancers from the two areas reveals numerous differences that cumulatively suggest the low probability of radiogenic nature of thyroid cancers in Fukushima. In view of continuing usage of different sources of radiation in various settings, the possible ways of reducing thyroid cancer risk from exposures are considered. For the external exposures, reasonable measures are generally in line with the "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" (ALARA) principle, while for the internal irradiation from radioiodine, thyroid blocking with stable iodine may be recommended in addition to other measures in case of anticipated exposures from a nuclear reactor accident. Finally, the perspectives of studies of radiation effects on the thyroid are discussed from the epidemiological, b...
Source: ENDOCR REV - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Source Type: research