Genetic Susceptibility and RF Radiation Modulate Thyroid Cancer

January 21, 2020

Last January, a team led by Yawei Zhang of the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven published an epidemiological study on the possible link between thyroid cancer and cell phones. Though some “suggestive” associations were seen among long-term users, none was statistically significant. Still, the results “warrant further investigation,” they advised.

Zhang did follow up, and what she found could well change the way people think about cell phone cancer risks.

She discovered that some people have an innate susceptibility to thyroid cancer when exposed to cell phone radiation. These individuals have small variations in their DNA which affect the functioning of seven different genes.

All seven genes regulate DNA repair.

These new findings will appear in the March 2020 issue of Environmental Research. A typescript copy is available now on the journal’s web site.

“The findings suggest that genetic susceptibilities play an important role in cell phone use and the risk of developing thyroid cancer,” Zhang said in a statement. They “could help to identify subgroups who are potentially at risk.”

Read more at:

https://microwavenews.com/news-center/cell-phones-and-cancer-your-genes-may-tell-story

Microwave News reminds us that over a decade ago, researchers in Shanghai reported that children with variant SNPs in their DNA repair genes were more likely to develop leukemia if they lived close to power lines. (More here.)

The work was never followed up.

The post Cell Phones and Cancer: Your Genes May Tell the Story appeared first on EMFSA.

The researchers examined over 900 people in Connecticut and found that those with certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (genetic variations commonly referred to as SNPs and pronounced as “snips”) were significantly more likely to develop cancer in their thyroid, a gland in the throat that controls metabolism.

Cell phone users with SNPs in four of the genes studied were more than two times likely to develop cancer. The researchers examined a total of 176 genes and identified 10 SNPs that appear to increase the risk of thyroid cancer among cell phone users.

Published in the journal Environmental Research, the study is believed to be the first to examine the combined influence of genetic susceptibility and cell phone use in relation to thyroid cancer.

“Our study provides evidence that genetic susceptibility influences the relationship between cell phone use and thyroid cancer,” said Yawei Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. “More studies are needed to identify populations who are susceptible to radiofrequency radiation (RFR) and understand exposure to RFR by different using patterns of cell phones.”

Read more at:

https://publichealth.yale.edu/news-article/22332/

Genetic susceptibility may modify the association between cell phone use and thyroid cancer: A population-based case-control study in Connecticut

The post Thyroid Cancer, Genetic Variations, and Cell Phones Linked in New Yale School of Public Health Study appeared first on EMFSA.