Thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents in ukraine after the Chernobyl nuclear accident

Abstract

Between 1990 and 1997, a significant increase in the incidence of thyroid carcinoma was noted in children and adolescents in Ukraine; the group most affected was comprised of the individuals who were age < or = 5 years in 1986 (the year of the Chernobyl nuclear accident). The largest number of cases occurred in patients living in areas of thyroid radiation doses of > or =0.50 grays. The morphologic features of those thyroid tumors suggest that they are aggressive tumors with a high frequency of lymph node metastases, venous invasion, and extrathyroidal spread.