BACKGROUND: This study aims to estimate the association between radon and site-specific cancer mortality among a large contemporary cohort of male uranium miners. METHODS: Annual occupational radon exposure was estimated based on a worker's duration of underground mining in a year and estimates of potential alpha energy of radon progeny in their location of work. Cancer mortality over the period 1977-1992 was ascertained for a cohort of 16 434 male underground uranium miners employed in the Czech Republic between 1946 and 1992. Poisson regression was used to estimate relationships between cumulative radiation exposure (in working level months [WLM]) and site-specific cancer mortality. RESULTS: Radon is positively associated with lung cancer mortality (excess relative rate [ERR] per 100 WLM = 0.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.10, 0.37). The best fit of the dose-response relationship between radon and lung cancer mortality was linear and estimates of radon-lung cancer associations varied by windows of time-since-exposure. Positive associations between radon and several types of cancer other than lung cancer were identified, notably chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (ERR/100 WLM = 0.24; 95% CI: [not determined [ND], 5.10]) and extrathoracic cancer (ERR/100 WLM = 0.12; 95% CI: [ND, 0.69]). We observed no associations between radon and stomach cancer, nor between radon and several hematopoietic cancer subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the established radon-lung cancer association and suggests that radon may also be associated with other types of cancer mortality. Further investigations of extrathoracic and CLL cancer, with the aim of obtaining more precise estimates, are warranted to understand associations between radon and cancers other than lung.

• Klíčová slova
• cancer, lung cancer, radon, uranium mining,
• MeSH
• chronická lymfatická leukemie etiologie   mortalita   MeSH
• hornictví * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nádory plic etiologie   mortalita   MeSH
• nádory vyvolané zářením mortalita   MeSH
• nemoci z povolání etiologie   mortalita   MeSH
• Poissonovo rozdělení MeSH
• pracovní expozice škodlivé účinky   MeSH
• radon toxicita   MeSH
• uran * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• radon MeSH
• uran * MeSH

OBJECTIVE: Uranium miners are chronically exposed to low levels of radon and its progeny. We investigated whether radon exposure is associated with increased incidence of leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma in this population. DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective case-cohort study in 23,043 uranium miners and identified a total of 177 incident cases of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Detailed information on occupational radon exposure was obtained for the cases and a randomly selected subcohort of 2,393 subjects. We used the proportional hazards model with power relative risk (RR) function to estimate and test the effects of cumulative radon exposures on incidence rates. RESULTS: Incidence of all leukemia combined and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) alone was positively associated with cumulative radon exposure. The RR comparing high radon exposure [110 working level months (WLM) ; 80th percentile] to low radon exposure (3 WLM ; 20th percentile) was 1.75 [95% confidence interval (CI) , 1.10-2.78 ; p = 0.014] for all leukemia combined and 1.98 (95% CI, 1.10-3.59 ; p = 0.016) for CLL. Myeloid leukemia and Hodgkin lymphoma were also associated with radon, but RRs were not statistically significant. There was no apparent association of radon with either non-Hodgkin lymphoma or multiple myeloma. Exposure to radon and its progeny was associated with an increased risk of developing leukemia in underground uranium miners. CLL, not previously believed to be radiogenic, was linked to radon exposure.

• MeSH
• hornictví * MeSH
• incidence MeSH
• leukemie epidemiologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lymfom epidemiologie   MeSH
• mnohočetný myelom epidemiologie   MeSH
• retrospektivní studie MeSH
• studie případů a kontrol MeSH
• uran toxicita   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• uran MeSH