Аннотация
It is known that after radiation exposure it could be latent period for realization of cancer effects. Therefore, now we can expect to find cancer effects in the people who were exposed in the childhood in the period of nuclear tests on the Semipalatinsk Test Site (1949–1963). The study objective was to analyze the cancer morbidity in the offspring of exposed to radiation population twenty years after the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Methods Information about cancer cases was sampled from the database of the State Medical Register of the Kazakhstan population exposed to radiation for the period from 2008 to 2012 using a family selection principle. The main study group included 965 people who were born from 1949 to 1962 and living in ten villages with average radiation dose 634 mSv. Control group was representative by age and sex and included 920 non-exposed people. Results. For the all period of study it was found significant exceeding of cancer prevalence in the main group compared with control: 317.7–338.4 per 100,000 versus 151.4–163.1 per 100,000 (RR = 2.08; CI 1.87; 2.32). Digestive cancer, lung cancer and female breast cancer prevailed in the structure of cancer diseases (average rates 24.6%; 23.8%; 14.7% respectively) in the both groups. Age distribution of cancer prevalence shows increased rates in the age groups 20–29; 30–39 years compared with control where malignances were typical for age 40 years and older. Conclusion Increased prevalence of malignant neoplasms in the people exposed to radiation in the childhood confirms our assumption about radiation-induced cancer effect of small doses. The child's organism has a high radiation sensitivity which leads to the cancer effects in adulthood. It should be continued study the radiological situation in the territories adjacent to the Test Site after the cessation of nuclear tests to clear the radiation health effects. Key messages The study represented that the effect of small doses could increase cancer prevalence in younger groups of affected population There are urgent needs to continue detailed study in people and they offspring exposed in the childhood in the period of activity on the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site