INCIDENCE OF MALIGNANT NEOPLASMS AMONG RESIDENTS OF SMALL RADIONUCLIDE-CONTAMINATED CHORNOBYL DISTRICTS IN A POST-ACCIDENT PERIOD.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the level of risks of development of malignant neoplasms among the residents of smallChornobyl districts («rayons») in connection with low-dose radiation exposure and its dynamic changes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study population included residents of Borodianka, Ivankiv and Poliske districts ofKyiv region («oblast») and Luhyny, Narodychi and Ovruch districts of Zhytomyr region, 175,100 inhabitants in2017. The study period was 1980-2017. All cancers incidence rates as well as rates of potentially radiation-associated sites (breast, thyroid, hematopoietic and lymphoid systems) were calculated and analysed. Methods of variation statistics, descriptive and analytical epidemiology were used.

RESULTS

The impact of ionizing radiation on population of the most radionuclide-contaminated districts raisesconcerns of the potential threat of adverse cancer effects, especially thyroid cancer. The average total whole-bodyeffective radiation doses received due to cesium during long time (1986-2005) among residents of the study districts (7.6-45.8 mSv) exceeded that in Zhytomyr (5.9 mSv), Kyiv (4.9 mSv) regions and Ukraine as a whole (2.48mSv), but also in other districts in the North Ukraine. The average doses of internal radiation absorbed by the thyroid gland (161-1559 mGy) among the most vulnerable population - children and adolescents (aged 0-18 yearsat the time of the accident) of these areas, and obtained in the short post-accident period, significantly exceedthat in Zhytomyr (87 mGy), Kyiv (81 mGy) regions and Ukraine as a whole (19 mGy). Irradiation rates of adult residents of these territories were lower, but significantly exceeded the average doses received by the population ofUkraine and large administrative units. Overall cancer incidence in the 6 districts during pre- and post-accidentperiods was lower comparing to Ukraine's and Kyiv region's rates, and did not significantly differ from Zhytomyrregion's rates. At the same time, the incidence rates of thyroid cancer significantly exceeded that of the pre-accident period as well as Zhytomyr region's rates.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the study indicate needs for further monitoring of malignant neoplasms not only inthe population of Ukraine as a whole and its large administrative-territorial units, but also among residents of particular areas, given the likelihood of the realization of the risks of radiation-associated diseases in the distantpost-accident period in accordance with local environmental conditions.