Cancer and Circulatory Disease Risks in US Radiologic Technologists Associated with Performing Procedures Involving Radionuclides

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alexander BH ; Brill AB ; Doody MM ; Drozdovitch V ; Freedman DM ; Kitahara CM ; Linet MS ; Little MP ; Miller JS ; Preston DL ; Rajaraman P ; Simon SL
• Description:
  Objectives: The number of nuclear medicine procedures has increased substantially over the past several decades, with uncertain health risks to the medical workers who perform them. We estimated risks of incidence and mortality from cancer and circulatory disease associated with performing procedures involving the use of radionuclides. Methods: From a nationwide cohort of 90 955 US radiologic technologists who completed a mailed questionnaire during 1994-1998, 22 039 reported ever performing diagnostic radionuclide procedures, brachytherapy, radioactive iodine therapy, or other radionuclide therapy. We calculated multivariable-adjusted HRs and 95% CIs for incidence (through 2003-2005) and mortality (through 2008) associated with performing these procedures. Results: Ever (versus never) performing radionuclide procedures was not associated with risks for most end points examined. However, we observed increased risks for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (HR=1.29, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.66) with ever performing diagnostic radionuclide procedures, for myocardial infarction incidence (HR=1.37, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.70), all-cause mortality (HR=1.10, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.20) and all-cancer mortality (HR=1.20, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.43) with ever performing brachytherapy, and for mortality from all causes (HR=1.14, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.30), breast cancer (HR=2.68, 95% CI 1.10 to 6.51), and myocardial infarction (HR=1.76, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.04) with ever performing other radionuclide therapy procedures (excluding brachytherapy and radioactive iodine); increasing risks were also observed with greater frequency of performing these procedures, particularly before 1980. Conclusions: The modest health risks among radiologic technologists performing procedures using radionuclides require further examination in studies with individual dose estimates, more detailed information regarding types of procedures performed and radionuclides used, and longer follow-up. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cohort Studies Diagnosis Epidemiology Health Personnel Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Radiation Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer Rates Circulatory System Cohort Studies Diagnostic Tests Health Care Workers Medical Personnel Nuclear Medicine Occupational Exposure Radiology Radionuclides
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  72
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064295
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2015 Nov; 72(11):770-776
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr Cari M Kitahara, Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850, USA
• Email:
  meinholdc@mail.nih.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b5e66ada95b62d160f6dce2263e0888348c1d13f21d9e3d48e1df73b469804846adf06af1c8151921053dd41a7063d714d99beb5430cfb24a64ad720096beffb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222787/cdc_222787_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 283.71 KB ]