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. 2018 May;8(5):703-711.
doi: 10.3892/mco.2018.1590. Epub 2018 Mar 19.

Low-dose ionizing radiation increases the mortality risk of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers: A meta-analysis

Shu-Gen Qu  1 , Jin Gao  1 , Bo Tang  1 , Bo Yu  1 , Yue-Ping Shen  2 , Yu Tu  1
Affiliations

Low-dose ionizing radiation increases the mortality risk of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers: A meta-analysis

Shu-Gen Qu et al. Mol Clin Oncol. 2018 May.

Abstract

Low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) may increase the mortality of solid cancers in nuclear industry workers, but only few individual cohort studies exist, and the available reports have low statistical power. The aim of the present study was to focus on solid cancer mortality risk from LDIR in the nuclear industry using standard mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals. A systematic literature search through the PubMed and Embase databases identified 27 studies relevant to this meta-analysis. There was statistical significance for total, solid and lung cancers, with meta-SMR values of 0.88, 0.80, and 0.89, respectively. There was evidence of stochastic effects by IR, but more definitive conclusions require additional analyses using standardized protocols to determine whether LDIR increases the risk of solid cancer-related mortality.

Keywords: low-dose ionizing radiation; meta-analysis; mortality; nuclear industry; solid cancer.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow chart of literature search and study selection.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Standard mortality ratio (SMR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for solid cancers in reviewed studies on uranium workers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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