For Immediate Release
March 7, 2005

Chernobyl Revisited: Lessons Learned

BUFFALO, NY – The explosion of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in April 1986 released substantial amounts of radioactive materials over western regions of the former Soviet Union (FSU). Since then, researchers worldwide, including those at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), have been investigating the health effects of radiation exposure on the population of the FSU, often under difficult economic and social circumstances.

The challenges faced and lessons learned by research groups conducting a large study of acute leukemia (AL) among children in areas of the FSU were reported in Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source.  Arthur Michalek, PhD, Dean and Chair of the Department of Educational Affairs, and colleagues, described how a number of significant challenges – language, physical infrastructure, road conditions, geographic distances and locating/interviewing participants – were effectively overcome through organization, communication and quality assurance. “The challenges were offset by the opportunities to glean information of significance to science and society,” said Dr. Michalek. “In an era of globalization, our experiences might benefit others involved in multinational investigations.”

A study led by Philip McCarthy, Jr., MD, Department of Medicine,  published in Leukemia Research, described  the results obtained by a Leukemia Diagnostic Working Group under the auspices of the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation (ICRHER) that confirmed the accuracy of 99 percent of the cases of AL diagnosed in the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl accident. “The period was one of economic hardship,” said Dr. McCarthy. “However, the FSU hematologists and hematopathologists were able to make accurate diagnoses under very difficult social and economic conditions. These results will be important for a leukemia case-control study that has been submitted for publication by the ICRHER.”

Martin C. Mahoney, MD, PhD, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, and colleagues reported a dramatic increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among residents of the Republic of Belarus in the International Journal of Epidemiology. “Increases of this magnitude among both men and women are remarkable over a relatively limited time period,” noted Dr. Mahoney, “and argue for continued surveillance in Belarus and other affected areas of the FSU.”

Other members of the Roswell Park Chernobyl research team include Theresa Hahn, PhD, Department of Medicine; Kirsten Moysich, PhD, and Silvana Lawvere, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute- designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York.  RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers.  For more information, visit the RPCI website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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