Epidemiology of childhood cancer in Belarus: 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 registry that dates back to 1965, which allows a comparison of cancer incidence rates from before and after the accident. Preliminary analysis indicates that there has been an increased incidence of all cancers, with thyroid cancer accounting for most of that change. When cancer incidence data from Belarus are compared to data from the U.S., there is a higher incidence of thyroid cancer and a slightly higher incidence of Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Belarus, but a lower reported incidence of leukemia and brain tumors. The Belarusian State Cancer Registry is being used as a foundation for the development of a more comprehensive childhood cancer registry.