ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2015
Background ionizing radiation and the risk of childhood cancer: a census-based nationwide cohort study.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 63 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
63 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk factors for childhood brain tumours: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies from 1976 to 2022.Cancer epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Epidemiological Studies of Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation and Cancer: Rationale and Framework for the Monograph and Overview of Eligible Studies.Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs · 2020Pooled it
- Evaluation of Confounding and Selection Bias in Epidemiological Studies of Populations Exposed to Low-Dose, High-Energy Photon Radiation.Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs · 2020Pooled it
- Epidemiological Studies of Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation and Cancer: Summary Bias Assessment and Meta-Analysis.Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs · 2020Pooled it
- Lymphoma and multiple myeloma in cohorts of persons exposed to ionising radiation at a young age.Leukemia · 2021Trial
- Lymphoma, multiple myeloma and leukaemia incidence in regions of Belarus most heavily contaminated by the Chernobyl accident.International journal of cancer · 2026Article
- Incidence of Malignancy in Children After Cardiac Catheterization Within the First 8 Years of Life Between 1999 and 2013-A Single-Center Experience.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Machine learning techniques for the prediction of indoor gamma-ray dose rates - Strengths, weaknesses and implications for epidemiology.Journal of environmental radioactivity · 2025Article
- Cumulative Exposure to Unconventional Natural Gas Development and the Risk of Childhood Cancer: A Registry-Based Case-Control Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Pediatric and adolescent cancer disparities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: incidence, mortality, and survival across socioeconomic strata.BMC public health · 2024Article
- A Historical Survey of Key Epidemiological Studies of Ionizing Radiation Exposure.Radiation research · 2024Review
- QUALIPAED-A retrospective quality control study evaluating pediatric long axial field-of-view low-dose FDG-PET/CT.Frontiers in nuclear medicine · 2024Article
- Radiation exposure and leukaemia risk among cohorts of persons exposed to low and moderate doses of external ionising radiation in childhood.British journal of cancer · 2023Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Ambient Particle Radioactivity and Fetal Growth in Eastern Massachusetts.Air quality, atmosphere, & health · 2023Article
- Global incidence, mortality and temporal trends of cancer in children: A joinpoint regression analysis.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- The Evidence for Excess Risk of Cancer and Non-Cancer Disease at Low Doses and Dose Rates.Radiation research · 2022Article
- Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health.BMJ paediatrics open · 2022Review
- Radiation-response in primary fibroblasts of long-term survivors of childhood cancer with and without second primary neoplasms: the KiKme study.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2022Article
- Measurements and determinants of children's exposure to background gamma radiation in Switzerland.Journal of radiation research · 2022Article
- A brief review of the current knowledge on environmental toxicants and risk of pediatric cancers.Pediatric hematology and oncology · 2022Review
3 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExposure to medium or high doses of ionizing radiation is a known risk factor for cancer in children. The extent to which low-dose radiation from natural sources contributes to the risk of childhood cancer remains unclear.
objectivesIn a nationwide census-based cohort study, we investigated whether the incidence of childhood cancer was associated with background radiation from terrestrial gamma and cosmic rays.
methodsChildren < 16 years of age in the Swiss National Censuses in 1990 and 2000 were included. The follow-up period lasted until 2008, and incident cancer cases were identified from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry. A radiation model was used to predict dose rates from terrestrial and cosmic radiation at locations of residence. Cox regression models were used to assess associations between cancer risk and dose rates and cumulative dose since birth.
resultsAmong 2,093,660 children included at census, 1,782 incident cases of cancer were identified including 530 with leukemia, 328 with lymphoma, and 423 with a tumor of the central nervous system (CNS). Hazard ratios for each millisievert increase in cumulative dose of external radiation were 1.03 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.05) for any cancer, 1.04 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.08) for leukemia, 1.01 (95% CI: 0.96, 1.05) for lymphoma, and 1.04 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.08) for CNS tumors. Adjustment for a range of potential confounders had little effect on the results.
conclusionsOur study suggests that background radiation may contribute to the risk of cancer in children, including leukemia and CNS tumors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.