Childhood leukemia in Belarus before and after the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

Childhood leukemia (ICD 204-208 [1]) incidence rates in the different regions of Belarus are reported for a period before and after the Chernobyl accident (1982-1994). There are, at this point, no recognizable trends towards higher rates.

Chernobyl, 10 Years After: Health Consequences

“…A thorough follow-up of these 115,000 people is required to observe these cases, but does not seem to have been arranged. Ivanov et al (118) have examined the data from the Belarus Childhood Leukemia Register from 1982 through 1994 and observed no increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia cases after the accident, not even in the most contaminated zones, even though case registration probably improved from then on. In the most contaminated regions of the Ukraine and in the 12 regions of the three republics contiguous to Chernobyl, the incidence of leukemia among all age groups shows no significant increase from the trend observed before the accident (119,120).…”

Ionising radiation and leukaemia potential risks: review based on the workshop held during the 10th Symposium on Molecular Biology of Hematopoiesis and Treatment of Leukemia and Lymphomas at Hamburg, Germany on 5 July 1997

“…Childhood leukaemia rates have been assessed in the seven major regions of Belarus for the period 1982 to 1994. 19 This is the first detailed documentation of the childhood leukaemia rates in Belarus before and after the accident. There is no increase in childhood leukaemia rates in any one of the six regions of Belarus.…”

Current system of childhood cancer registration in Belarus

“…The leukemia's part of the automatic data base was subsequently extended back to 1986 with the additional collaboration of the Research Institute for Hematology and Blood Transfusion, which has a prospective database of hemablastosis registered according to the ICD-9 since 1979 and had performed leukemia studies previously published. [1][2][3][4] Since 2004 the Childhood Cancer Sub-registry of Belarus prospectively collects the cancer cases in adolescents (15-19 years old) and extends the data bases for this age retrospectively.…”