Genome-wide gene-environmental interaction analysis of exposures to radiation and nitrates as modifiers of the risk for thyroid cancer in the Chernobyl region

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Genetic and environmental factors are thought to contribute to the risk of development of thyroid cancer. The purpose of this study is to analytically measure on the whole-genome scale the impact of interactions of individual genetic variants (G) with environmental factors (E) such as radiation, iodine and nitrates (hence, GxE interactions) on the risk for thyroid malignancy in the Chernobyl-affected region.Our previous whole-genome study of genetic predisposition to radiation-related thyroid carcinogenesis was performed in the groups of patients with thyroid cancer developed after the Chernobyl accident and healthy control individuals from Belarus taking into account only demographic information, i.e. using an ecological design.In the present study, data on individual radiation thyroid dose, and iodine level in soil and nitrate concentration in drinking water in the place of residence of study participants at the time of exposure are being generated and integrated with the available genomic data in comprehensive statistical and machine learning models.This study is an international interdisciplinary collaborative research conducted by the specialists in different areas of knowledge such as genome analysis, medical oncology and pathology, environment, and radiation dosimetry. Knowledge from GxE interactions is expected to provide essential data for scientific evidence-based risk communications and individual risk management under the conditions of increasing medical exposures worldwide, and accidental radiation exposure or technogenic radiation disaster.