The ret/PTC1 and ret/PTC3r1 rearrangements in thyroid carcinoma cells fromthe inhabitants of Belarus in the post-Chernobyl period

After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a considerable inc rease in the incidence of thyroid cancer among children in Belarus was obse rved. In the present study, the frequency of the c-ret protooncogene rearra ngements in samples of thyroid carcinomas resected and diagnosed in 1998 fr om individuals in Belarus was investigated. The ret/PTC1 oncogene was detec ted in 19% of the samples, and the ret/PTC3r1 oncogene, in 14%. The number of ret/PTC1 rearrangements observed in tumor cells from the patients whose age at the time of the accident was from 1 to 10 years was greater compared to those whose age at the time was from 10 to 20 years, irrespective of th e year of surgery (1996 or 1998). The majority of the patients with retPTC3 r1 rearrangements lived in Gomel oblast, which was highly contaminated by t he Chernobyl meltdown.