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¹³¹I Ablation Treatment in Young Females After the Chernobyl Accident

¹ Science Applications International Corporation, Knoxville, Tennessee; and ² Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Curtis Travis, PhD, 8112 Bennington Dr., Knoxville, TN 37909. E-mail: Traviscc{at}icx.net

The Chernobyl accident resulted in a number of cases of thyroid cancer in females under the age of 20 y. Many of these individuals were treated with surgical removal of the thyroid gland followed by ¹³¹I ablation of residual thyroid tissue. Epidemiologic evidence demonstrates that ¹³¹I treatment for thyroid cancer or hyperthyroidism in adult women confers negligible risk of breast cancer. However, comparable data for younger women do not exist. Studies of external radiation exposure indicate that, for radiation exposures of as low as 0.2–0.7 Gy, the risk of breast cancer is greater for infant and adolescent female breast tissues than for adult female breast tissues. Methods: The effective half-time of ¹³¹I measured in athyrotic patients was used together with the OLINDA/EXM computer code to estimate doses to breast tissue in 10-y-old, 15-y-old, and young adult females from ablation treatment. Results: The dose to pediatric and young adult female breast tissue associated with a 5.6-GBq (150 mCi) ablation treatment may range from 0.35 to 0.55 Gy, resulting in a lifetime risk of breast cancer ranging from 2–4 cases per 100 such individuals exposed and a lifetime risk of solid tumors ranging from 8 to 17 solid tumors per 100 such individuals exposed. Administration of multiple ablation treatments, as often occurs with metastases, could result in doses ranging from 0.7 to 1 Gy, with corresponding increases in the lifetime cancer risk. Conclusion: These estimates suggest the need for additional research and a possible need for surveillance of young Chernobyl thyroid cancer patients who received ¹³¹I ablation treatment.

Key Words: thyroid cancer • ¹³¹I • breast cancer • ablation treatment • Chernobyl

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