EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD-CANCER IN BYELARUS - REVIEW OF DATA 1978-1994, AND DISCUSSION OF THE NEW BELARUSIAN CHILDHOOD-CANCER REGISTRY

The Chernobyl accident in 1986 had a major ecological impact, with the bulk of the radioactive contamination affecting Belarus, the Ukraine and Russian Federation. Belarus has a nationwide general cancer regist ry that dates back to 1965, which allows a comparison of cancer incide nce rates from before and after the accident. Preliminary analysis ind icates that there has been an increased incidence of all cancers, with thyroid cancer accounting for most of that change. When cancer incide nce data from Belarus are compared to data from the U.S., there is a h igher incidence of thyroid cancer and a slightly higher incidence of H odgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Belarus, but a lower re ported incidence of leukemia and brain tumors. The Belarusian State Ca ncer Registry is being used as a foundation for the development of a m ore comprehensive childhood cancer registry.