[ RadSafe ] FW: " Chernobyl did not lead to thyroid cancer "

[Jaro]

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20051101-023344-3005
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Chernobyl did not lead to thyroid cancer

PARIS, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A study presented to a European conference in Paris
Tuesday finds no association between radiation exposure and papillary
thyroid cancer in children.

The study presented to the 13th European Cancer Conference was based on data
involving children and teenagers who were exposed to radiation when a
reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine melted down in 1986.

The study, by the South West Wales Cancer Institute, compared genetic
mutations found in 52 childhood thyroid cancer sufferers born before and
after the accident and divided the victims into four groups based on age,
sex and place of residence.

Molecular biology studies found no difference with respect to type or
overall frequency of a particular genetic mutation, known as ret
rearrangement, between any of the groups -- despite the fact that ret
rearrangement had been thought to be a potential marker of radiation
exposure.

The study found no association between ret rearrangement and radiation
exposure. Rather, researchers said the real link between the patterns of
molecular biological alterations observed post-Chernobyl in thyroid cancer
might actually be related to the age of the patients under study, rather
than radioiodine exposure.

Only one child out of the 52 studied had a specific gene mutation, known as
BRAF, which is typically present at higher levels in adult thyroid cancer
sufferers. In contrast, 58 percent of adult thyroid cancer patients in the
Ukraine show this mutation.

 © Copyright 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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