ArticleEnvironmental research2025
Ambient beta particle radioactivity and lung cancer survival: Results from the Boston Lung Cancer Study.
Article in Environmental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Updated Knowledge on Radon Exposure: Quantification Methods, Health Effects, and Molecular Mechanisms.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Comorbidity of hypertension and lung cancer: interplay of genetics and environment.Discover oncology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to ionizing radiation is known to increase the risk of lung cancer. However, studies on the effect of environmental radiation associated with ambient particle air pollution on lung cancer survival are limited. We investigated the association between ambient beta particle radioactivity (PR-β) after a diagnosis and lung cancer survivals.
methodsThe Boston Lung Cancer Survival (BLCS) cohort consisted of histologically confirmed patients enrolled at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in Boston, U.S. The primary outcomes included overall survival, 5-year survival, and 3-year survival probability. We estimated ambient PR-β exposure at the ZIP code of residence from 2001 through 2017. Cox-proportional hazards models were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for the associations between ambient PR-β and survival outcomes while controlling for covariates.
resultsThe analysis included 2795 patients with complete information, with 97,330 person-months of follow-up. The interquartile range (IQR) increase in PR-β was significantly associated with worse overall survival (HR:1.63, 95% CI:1.52, 1.76), 5-year survival (HR:1.33, 95% CI:1.23, 1.44), and 3-year survival (HR:1.22, 95% CI:1.12, 1.33) while adjusting for covariates, including age at diagnosis, sex, race, smoking, stage, histology, and adjusted gross income. Similar associations were found while additionally adjusting for the estimated residential radon exposure. In addition, the survival associated with PR-β exposure was significantly worse for patients in the early stages (HR:2.16, 95% CI:1.84, 2.52).
conclusionThe findings from this study provide new evidence suggesting that environmental exposure to radioactive particles after lung cancer diagnosis may have a pronounced effect on survival, particularly in patients with early stages.
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