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Cancer after nuclear fallout: lessons from the Chernobyl accident

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 2, pages 543–549 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The Chernobyl accident exposed people located hundreds of kilometres away to fallout, but increases in cancer incidence as a result of the accident seem, at present, to be restricted to one tumour type. These thyroid tumours form the largest number of cancers of one type, caused by a single event on one date, ever recorded. Epidemiological, pathological and molecular studies have provided new insights into the carcinogenic process, as well as lessons for future nuclear accidents.

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Figure 1: Surface ground deposition of 137caesium released after the Chernobyl accident.
Figure 2: The features of papillary and follicular thyroid tumours.
Figure 3: The role of RET in thyroid carcinogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

The invaluable work of the many doctors and scientists in the three affected countries who have contributed to so many of the studies is acknowledged, as are many discussions with G. A. Thomas, and the financial support from the European Community and the Leverhulme Trust.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Thyroid Carcinogenesis Research Group, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Wort's Causeway, Cambridge, CB1 8RN, UK

    Dillwyn Williams

Authors
  1. Dillwyn Williams
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Related links

Related links

DATABASES

Cancer.gov

breast cancer

thyroid cancer

LocusLink

APC

ELE1

GDNF

Gsα G-protein subunit

HRAS

KRAS2

NRAS

PTEN

RAS

Ret

RET

thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor

TP53

TRK

OMIM

Cowden's syndrome

FURTHER INFORMATION

National Cancer Institute fallout report

Newly Independent States Chernobyl Tissue Bank

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)

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Williams, D. Cancer after nuclear fallout: lessons from the Chernobyl accident. Nat Rev Cancer 2, 543–549 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc845

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