Influence of Radiation Exposure and Ultrasound Screening on the Clinical Behavior of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma in Young Patients

The dramatic increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer in young residents of regions contaminated with radiative fallout is a well-known health consequence of the Chernobyl accident. The residents of four regions of Russia located around Chernobyl form a prospective cohort that receives regular health checkups including thyroid ultrasound. Aside from the individuals with radiation history, a number of nonexposed patients from other regions of the country, diagnosed without screening, undergo treatment for thyroid cancer making it possible to compare clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes between the radiation-related vs. sporadic and screened vs. nonscreened groups. This work set out to analyze whether and how radiation exposure due to the Chernobyl accident and ultrasound screening of the thyroid may affect clinical characteristics of the tumors and evaluates the chance of recurrence of the papillary thyroid cancer diagnosed in young patients from Russia.