Breast cancer incidence following low-dose rate environmental exposure: Techa River Cohort, 1956-2004

In the 1950s, the Mayak nuclear weapons facility in Russia discharged liquid radioactive wastes into the Techa River causing exposure of riverside residents to protracted low-to-moderate doses of radiation. Almost 10 000 women received estimated doses to the stomach of up to 0.47 Gray (Gy) (mean dose = 0.04 Gy) from external gamma-exposure and Cs-137 incorporation. We have been following this population for cancer incidence and mortality and as in the general Russian population, we found a significant temporal trend of breast cancer incidence. A significant linear radiation dose-response relationship was observed (P = 0.01) with an estimated excess relative risk per Gray (ERR/Gy) of 5.00 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80, 12.76). We estimated that approximately 12% of the 109 observed cases could be attributed to radiation.