Yoon Ji Young, Lee Jung-Dong, Joo So Won, Kang Dae Ryong
Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Office of Biostatistics, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Ann Occup Environ Med. 2016 Mar 25;28:15. doi: 10.1186/s40557-016-0098-z. eCollection 2016.
Lung cancer has high mortality and incidence rates. The leading causes of lung cancer are smoking and radon exposure. Indeed, the World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized radon as a carcinogenic substance causing lung cancer. Radon is a natural, radioactive substance; it is an inert gas that mainly exists in soil or rock. The gas decays into radioactive particles called radon progeny that can enter the human body through breathing. Upon entering the body, these radioactive elements release α-rays that affect lung tissue, causing lung cancer upon long-term exposure thereto. Epidemiological studies first outlined a high correlation between the incidence rate of lung cancer and exposure to radon progeny among miners in Europe. Thereafter, data and research on radon exposure and lung cancer incidence in homes have continued to accumulate. Many international studies have reported increases in the risk ratio of lung cancer when indoor radon concentrations inside the home are high. Although research into indoor radon concentrations and lung cancer incidence is actively conducted throughout North America and Europe, similar research is lacking in Korea. Recently, however, studies have begun to accumulate and report important data on indoor radon concentrations across the nation. In this study, we aimed to review domestic and foreign research into indoor radon concentrations and to outline correlations between indoor radon concentrations in homes and lung cancer incidence, as reported in ecological studies thereof. Herein, we noted large differences in radon concentrations between and within individual countries. For Korea, we observed tremendous differences in indoor radon concentrations according to region and year of study, even within the same region. In correlation analysis, lung cancer incidence was not found to be higher in areas with high indoor radon concentrations in Korea. Through our review, we identified a need to implement a greater variety of statistical analyses in research on indoor radon concentrations and lung cancer incidence. Also, we suggest that cohort research or patient-control group research into radon exposure and lung cancer incidence that considers smoking and other factors is warranted.
肺癌具有很高的死亡率和发病率。肺癌的主要病因是吸烟和接触氡。事实上，世界卫生组织（WHO）已将氡归类为导致肺癌的致癌物质。氡是一种天然放射性物质；它是一种惰性气体，主要存在于土壤或岩石中。这种气体衰变成称为氡子体的放射性粒子，可通过呼吸进入人体。进入人体后，这些放射性元素会释放α射线，影响肺组织，长期接触会导致肺癌。流行病学研究首先概述了欧洲矿工肺癌发病率与接触氡子体之间的高度相关性。此后，关于家庭中氡暴露与肺癌发病率的数据和研究不断积累。许多国际研究报告称，当家庭室内氡浓度较高时，肺癌的风险比会增加。尽管北美和欧洲都在积极开展关于室内氡浓度与肺癌发病率的研究，但韩国缺乏类似的研究。然而，最近相关研究已开始积累并报告全国范围内关于室内氡浓度的重要数据。在本研究中，我们旨在回顾国内外关于室内氡浓度的研究，并概述家庭室内氡浓度与肺癌发病率之间的相关性，这些相关性在相关生态研究中已有报道。在此，我们注意到不同国家之间以及单个国家内部的氡浓度存在很大差异。对于韩国，我们观察到即使在同一地区，根据研究区域和年份的不同，室内氡浓度也存在巨大差异。在相关性分析中，未发现韩国室内氡浓度高的地区肺癌发病率更高。通过我们的综述，我们发现有必要在室内氡浓度与肺癌发病率的研究中进行更多种类的统计分析。此外，我们建议有必要开展队列研究或患者对照组研究，以探讨考虑吸烟和其他因素的氡暴露与肺癌发病率之间的关系。
