Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses

Mark P. Little; Richard Wakeford; Simon D. Bouffler; Kossi Abalo; Michael Hauptmann; Nobuyuki Hamada; Gerald M. Kendall

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983

Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses

Mark P. Little^*, Richard Wakeford, Simon D. Bouffler, Kossi Abalo, Michael Hauptmann, Nobuyuki Hamada, Gerald M. Kendall

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

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Abstract

Background: The detrimental health effects associated with the receipt of moderate (0.1–1 Gy) and high (>1 Gy) acute doses of sparsely ionising radiation are well established from human epidemiological studies. There is accumulating direct evidence of excess risk of cancer in a number of populations exposed at lower acute doses or doses received over a protracted period. There is evidence that relative risks are generally higher after radiation exposures in utero or in childhood.

Methods and findings: We reviewed and summarised evidence from 60 studies of cancer or benign neoplasms following low- or moderate-level exposure in utero or in childhood from medical and environmental sources. In most of the populations studied the exposure was predominantly to sparsely ionising radiation, such as X-rays and gamma-rays. There were significant (p < 0.001) excess risks for all cancers, and particularly large excess relative risks were observed for brain/CNS tumours, thyroid cancer (including nodules) and leukaemia.

Conclusions: Overall, the totality of this large body of data relating to in utero and childhood exposure provides support for the existence of excess cancer and benign neoplasm risk associated with radiation doses < 0.1 Gy, and for certain groups exposed to natural background radiation, to fallout and medical X-rays in utero, at about 0.02 Gy.

Original language	English
Article number	106983
Journal	Environment International
Volume	159
Early online date	24 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983
Publication status	Published - 15 Jan 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The authors are grateful for the detailed and helpful comments of Dr Jay Lubin, also for those of the four referees.

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Publisher Copyright: Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Citation: Little, Mark P., et al. "Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses." Environment international 159 (2022): 106983.

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983

Keywords

Cancer risk
Childhood
In utero
Radiation
Radiobiology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983Licence: CC BY

Little2022ReviewOfTheRiskOfCancerFollowingLowAndModerateDosesEnvironIntFinal published version, 949 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses",

abstract = "Background: The detrimental health effects associated with the receipt of moderate (0.1–1 Gy) and high (>1 Gy) acute doses of sparsely ionising radiation are well established from human epidemiological studies. There is accumulating direct evidence of excess risk of cancer in a number of populations exposed at lower acute doses or doses received over a protracted period. There is evidence that relative risks are generally higher after radiation exposures in utero or in childhood. Methods and findings: We reviewed and summarised evidence from 60 studies of cancer or benign neoplasms following low- or moderate-level exposure in utero or in childhood from medical and environmental sources. In most of the populations studied the exposure was predominantly to sparsely ionising radiation, such as X-rays and gamma-rays. There were significant (p < 0.001) excess risks for all cancers, and particularly large excess relative risks were observed for brain/CNS tumours, thyroid cancer (including nodules) and leukaemia. Conclusions: Overall, the totality of this large body of data relating to in utero and childhood exposure provides support for the existence of excess cancer and benign neoplasm risk associated with radiation doses < 0.1 Gy, and for certain groups exposed to natural background radiation, to fallout and medical X-rays in utero, at about 0.02 Gy.",

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author = "Little, {Mark P.} and Richard Wakeford and Bouffler, {Simon D.} and Kossi Abalo and Michael Hauptmann and Nobuyuki Hamada and Kendall, {Gerald M.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The authors are grateful for the detailed and helpful comments of Dr Jay Lubin, also for those of the four referees. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Publisher Copyright: Published by Elsevier Ltd. Citation: Little, Mark P., et al. {"}Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses.{"} Environment international 159 (2022): 106983. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983",

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AU - Wakeford, Richard

AU - Bouffler, Simon D.

AU - Abalo, Kossi

AU - Hauptmann, Michael

AU - Hamada, Nobuyuki

AU - Kendall, Gerald M.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The authors are grateful for the detailed and helpful comments of Dr Jay Lubin, also for those of the four referees. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Open Access: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Publisher Copyright: Published by Elsevier Ltd. Citation: Little, Mark P., et al. "Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses." Environment international 159 (2022): 106983. DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106983

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N2 - Background: The detrimental health effects associated with the receipt of moderate (0.1–1 Gy) and high (>1 Gy) acute doses of sparsely ionising radiation are well established from human epidemiological studies. There is accumulating direct evidence of excess risk of cancer in a number of populations exposed at lower acute doses or doses received over a protracted period. There is evidence that relative risks are generally higher after radiation exposures in utero or in childhood. Methods and findings: We reviewed and summarised evidence from 60 studies of cancer or benign neoplasms following low- or moderate-level exposure in utero or in childhood from medical and environmental sources. In most of the populations studied the exposure was predominantly to sparsely ionising radiation, such as X-rays and gamma-rays. There were significant (p < 0.001) excess risks for all cancers, and particularly large excess relative risks were observed for brain/CNS tumours, thyroid cancer (including nodules) and leukaemia. Conclusions: Overall, the totality of this large body of data relating to in utero and childhood exposure provides support for the existence of excess cancer and benign neoplasm risk associated with radiation doses < 0.1 Gy, and for certain groups exposed to natural background radiation, to fallout and medical X-rays in utero, at about 0.02 Gy.

AB - Background: The detrimental health effects associated with the receipt of moderate (0.1–1 Gy) and high (>1 Gy) acute doses of sparsely ionising radiation are well established from human epidemiological studies. There is accumulating direct evidence of excess risk of cancer in a number of populations exposed at lower acute doses or doses received over a protracted period. There is evidence that relative risks are generally higher after radiation exposures in utero or in childhood. Methods and findings: We reviewed and summarised evidence from 60 studies of cancer or benign neoplasms following low- or moderate-level exposure in utero or in childhood from medical and environmental sources. In most of the populations studied the exposure was predominantly to sparsely ionising radiation, such as X-rays and gamma-rays. There were significant (p < 0.001) excess risks for all cancers, and particularly large excess relative risks were observed for brain/CNS tumours, thyroid cancer (including nodules) and leukaemia. Conclusions: Overall, the totality of this large body of data relating to in utero and childhood exposure provides support for the existence of excess cancer and benign neoplasm risk associated with radiation doses < 0.1 Gy, and for certain groups exposed to natural background radiation, to fallout and medical X-rays in utero, at about 0.02 Gy.

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KW - Childhood

KW - In utero

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KW - Radiobiology

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M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:85121628088

SN - 0160-4120

VL - 159

JO - Environment International

JF - Environment International

M1 - 106983

ER -

Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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