THERE has been no documented increase in childhood leukaemia following
the Chernobyl accident. However, different forms of childhood leukaem
ia may not be equally susceptible to radiation carcinogenesis. Infant
leukaemia is a distinct form associated with a specific genetic abnorm
ality. Outside the former Soviet Union, contamination resulting from t
he Chernobyl accident has been highest in Greece and Austria and high
also in the Scandinavian countries(1-4). All childhood leukaemia cases
diagnosed throughout Greece since 1 January 1980 have been recorded.
Here we report that infants exposed in utero to ionizing radiation fro
m the Chernobyl accident had 2.6 limes the incidence of leukaemia comp
ared to unexposed children (95% confidence interval, 1.4 to 5.1; P app
roximate to 0.003), and those born to mothers residing in regions with
high radioactive fallout were at higher risk of developing infant leu
kaemia. No significant difference in leukaemia incidence was found amo
ng children aged 12 to 47 months. Preconceptional irradiation had no d
emonstrable effect on leukaemia risk at any of the studied age groups.