Material available
The study cohort includes all those who were resident in the areas of Ukraine and Russia contaminated by radioactive fallout from the accident and who were aged under 19 at exposure (i.e. born after 26th April 1967). Thyroid cancer in those who were children or adolescents at exposure is the only cancer to have shown a substantial increase in these areas and it is clearly related to exposure to radioiodine (predominantly the short lived isotopes - particularly 131-I, which has a half life of 8.1 days). This is evidenced by the sharp decrease in the frequency of thyroid cancer (returning to pre-accident levels) in those who were born after 1/1/87 and were therefore not exposed to radioiodine either in utero (the thyroid concentrates iodine from 3 months of intrauterine age) or in childhood. The cohort now includes a significant number of cases of thyroid tumours from patients who are resident in the areas contaminated by fallout from Chernobyl, but by virtue of the fact that they were born after 1/1/87 have not been exposed to radioiodine. This is an extremely valuable cohort that serves as a control population for thyroid cancer associated with radioiodine exposure.
The CTB collects a variety of different types of biospecimen from patients undergoing operations for thyroid cancer or adenoma in the Institute of Enodcrinology and Metabolism in Kiev, Ukraine and the Medical Radiological Research Centre in Obninsk, Russia who consent to donate to the project. Tissue is collected to an approved standard operating procedure (SOP) and is snap frozen, and the presence or absence of tumour is verified by frozen section. A representative paraffin block is also obtained for each case. Where appropriate, we also collect fresh and paraffin tissue from loco-regional metastases. Currently we do not issue tissue, but provide extracted nucleic acid, paraffin sections and sections from tissue microarrays from this material.
The CTB provides materials and data for international research groups. Briefly, the process involves a formal application, followed by review by an external panel. Approval for access is agreed by the SAB (these three processes are carried out by email).
For more information on you can obtain approval click here.
Cases which have been reviewed, broken down by tumour type
(more detailed information can be provided on request from
the CTB Secretariat); the number of cases for which frozen
material is available is given in brackets.
| |
Ukraine |
Russia |
Total |
| Papillary Carcinoma |
836 |
(693) |
449 |
(363) |
1285 |
(1056) |
| Follicular Carcinoma |
63 |
(53) |
21 |
(18) |
84 |
(71) |
| Medullary Carcinoma |
24 |
(21) |
18 |
(11) |
42 |
(32) |
| Other cancers |
33 |
(31) |
24 |
(174) |
57 |
(48) |
| Follicular Adenoma |
281 |
(218) |
200 |
(175) |
481 |
(393) |
| Other Benign Follicular Tumours |
58 |
(49) |
56 |
(41) |
114 |
(90) |
| Miscellaneous Tumours |
50 |
(43) |
73 |
(70) |
123 |
(113) |
| Total |
1345 |
(1108) |
841 |
(695) |
2186 |
(1803) |
Table updated 31.01.2008
The majority of the cases (80%) are from the contaminated areas of Ukraine and Russia. 193 cases are from patients who were born after 1 st December 1986 and who were therefore not exposed to radioiodine in fallout either in utero or as children.
more information:
Aliquots of nucleic acid
Paraffin sections
Tissue Micro Arrays
|
