Assessment of Thyroid Cancer Risk Associated with Radiation Dose from Personal Diagnostic Examinations in a Cohort Study of US Radiologic Technologists, Followed 1983–2014

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alexander BH ; Cahoon EK ; Chang LA ; Doody MM ; Friesen MC ; Kitahara CM ; Lim H ; Linet MS ; Little MP ; Neta G ; Preston DL ; Sigurdson AJ ; Simon SL
• Description:
  Objective: To assess whether personal medical diagnostic procedures over life, but particularly those associated with exposure in adulthood, were associated with increased thyroid cancer risk. Design: Participants from the US Radiologic Technologists Study, a large, prospective cohort, were followed from the date of first mailed questionnaire survey completed during 1983-1989 to the earliest date of self-reported diagnosis of thyroid cancer or of any other cancer than non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in any of three subsequent questionnaires up to the last in 2012-2014. Setting: US nationwide, occupational cohort. Participants: US radiologic technologists with exclusion of: those who reported a previous cancer apart from NMSC on the first questionnaire; those who reported a cancer with an unknown date of diagnosis on any of the questionnaires; and those who did not respond to both the first questionnaire and at least one subsequent questionnaire. Primary outcome measure: We used Cox proportional hazards models with age as timescale to compute HRs and 95% CI for thyroid cancer in relation to cumulative 5-year lagged diagnostic thyroid dose. Results: There were 414 self-reported thyroid cancers (n=275 papillary) in a cohort of 76 415 persons. Cumulative thyroid dose was non-significantly positively associated with total (excess relative risk/Gy=2.29 (95% CI -0.91 to 7.01, p=0.19)) and papillary thyroid cancer (excess relative risk/Gy=4.15 (95% CI -0.39, 11.27, p=0.08)) risk. These associations were not modified by age at, or time since, exposure and were independent of occupational exposure. Conclusion: Our study provides weak evidence that thyroid dose from diagnostic radiation procedures over the whole of life, in particular associated with exposure in adulthood, influences adult thyroid cancer risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cohort Studies Diagnosis Epidemiology Health Personnel Neoplasms Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cancer Rates Cohort Studies Diagnostic Tests Health Care Workers Medical Personnel Radiation Exposure Thyroid Gland Disorders
• ISSN:
  2044-6055
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Maryland ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064456
• Citation:
  BMJ Open 2018 May; 8(5):e021536
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr, Mark P Little, Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
• Email:
  mark.little@nih.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  BMJ Open
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ad1b09bcbe4b52f573f39bae14eeac0d8fc5715e643758115baf458d299521e6ff5a4c10a2d573fc70e7228d96334ff057c2724c4f8e08837f9e9cba04460812
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222910/cdc_222910_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 364.27 KB ]