Can screening effects explain increased risk of thyroid cancer among population living near nuclear power plants in Korea?

摘要

Following reports in Korea of an increased risk of thyroid can-cer among those living near nuclear power plants (NPPs) [1], there has been debate regarding the interpretation of the find-ings. One suggested explanation is the screening effect on thy-roid cancer risk. The basic assumption of this argument is that the screening process increases the number of detected thyroid cancer cases in a population, leading to an increase in incidence and relative risk. The Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Compa-ny granted a project to support this assumption to gain an ad-vantage in their legal litigation regarding thyroid cancer cases. However, these circumstances could occur in a limited condi-tion and cannot always happen. Because the screening effect and causality are different issues, we must distinguish between the two different questions. Even if there is a screening effect, it does not mean that the observed increased risk of thyroid can-cer does not result from living near NPPs. Therefore, I would like to make a few comments on this issue.