The International Project "Chernobyl Tissue Bank": the Results and the Prospects of Thyroid Radiation-Induced Pathology Study
Chernobyl accident, the worst technological catastrophe involving massive radiation release into the environment, was passed the 25th anniversary. Its major internationally recognized health consequence is thyroid cancer among the individuals affected by radioiodine at early ages. The largest in the world and unique series of radiation-induced thyroid malignancies has been a subject of investigations in many different aspects of sciences for decades. The Chernobyl Tissue Bank (CTB: www.chernobyltissuebank.com) was established to bolster the studies of the molecular mechanisms of post Chernobyl thyroid cancer. The project is currently supported by the governments of Russia and Ukraine and is co-financed by the European Commission, the National Cancer Institute USA and Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, Japan. The Bank provides aliquots of RNA and DNA extracted from biological material of patients with a known etiology of the disease - exposure to radioactive iodine in childhood and adolescence, providing a base for research projects in Europe, USA and Japan. These studies showed that the main type of post-Chernobyl cancer is the papillary thyroid carcinoma. During recent years there has been a tendency to the increase in follicular cancers in this cohort. To date, no molecular markers of radiation thyroid carcinogenesis have been detected and it is expected that the molecular biology of papillary carcinoma is most likely associated with patient age at diagnosis or with the duration of the period of latency rather than it depends on etiology. Studies in adequate age-matched patients groups are expected to allow differentiating the radiation-specific effects of tumor biology and the genetic susceptibility from the age-related effects.