Radiation and thyroid cancer

The first international seminar on radiation and thyroid cancer will be held in Cambridge, United Kingdom, from 20 to 23 July 1998. The conference will be organized by the European Commission, DG XII, in collaboration with the Department of Pathology of the University of Cambridge, the US Department of Energy and the US National Institutes of Health.

The principal aims of this meeting are to describe the link between radiation and thyroid cancer and to explore the many factors influencing the interaction between radiation and the thyroid cell, which together determine the likelihood that a cancer may result. The seminar will present the latest evidence derived from studies of the effects of exposure to fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and will place this evidence in the wider context of other experiences of radiation induced thyroid carcinoma.

The topics to be covered during the seminar will include the following:

- Radiation and the incidence of thyroid cancer in humans;
- Population exposures to nuclear radiation;
- Chernobyl and thyroid cancer;
- Mechanisms of radiation carcinogenesis in the thyroid;
- Prevention, screening and treatment of radiation induced thyroid carcinoma;
- Ascertaining and predicting the consequences of a nuclear accident;
- Radiation and thyroid cancer - conclusions, lessons and actions.
For further information, please contact:

European Commission
DG XII - Science, research and development
Dr. Jaak Sinnaeve
200 rue de la Loi (MO 75 4/1)
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. +32-2-2954045; Fax +32-2-2966256