TY - JOUR
T1 - Personalized cancer risk assessments for space radiation exposures
AU - Locke, Paul A.
AU - Weil, Michael M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Locke and Weil.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Individuals differ in their susceptibility to radiogenic cancers, and there is evidence that this inter-individual susceptibility extends to HZE ion-induced carcinogenesis. Three components of individual risk: sex, age at exposure, and prior tobacco use, are already incorporated into the NASA cancer risk model used to determine safe days in space for US astronauts. Here, we examine other risk factors that could potentially be included in risk calculations. These include personal and family medical history, the presence of pre-malignant cells that could undergo malignant transformation as a consequence of radiation exposure, the results from phenotypic assays of radiosensitivity, heritable genetic polymorphisms associated with radiosensitivity, and postflight monitoring. Inclusion of these additional risk or risk reduction factors has the potential to personalize risk estimates for individual astronauts and could influence the determination of safe days in space. We consider how this type of assessment could be used and explore how the provisions of the federal Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act could impact the collection, dissemination and use of this information by NASA.
AB - Individuals differ in their susceptibility to radiogenic cancers, and there is evidence that this inter-individual susceptibility extends to HZE ion-induced carcinogenesis. Three components of individual risk: sex, age at exposure, and prior tobacco use, are already incorporated into the NASA cancer risk model used to determine safe days in space for US astronauts. Here, we examine other risk factors that could potentially be included in risk calculations. These include personal and family medical history, the presence of pre-malignant cells that could undergo malignant transformation as a consequence of radiation exposure, the results from phenotypic assays of radiosensitivity, heritable genetic polymorphisms associated with radiosensitivity, and postflight monitoring. Inclusion of these additional risk or risk reduction factors has the potential to personalize risk estimates for individual astronauts and could influence the determination of safe days in space. We consider how this type of assessment could be used and explore how the provisions of the federal Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act could impact the collection, dissemination and use of this information by NASA.
KW - Cancer
KW - Cancer risk
KW - Genetic susceptibility
KW - Radiation carcinogenesis
KW - Space radiation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84964425161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84964425161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fonc.2016.00038
DO - 10.3389/fonc.2016.00038
M3 - Article
C2 - 26942127
AN - SCOPUS:84964425161
SN - 2234-943X
VL - 6
JO - Frontiers in Oncology
JF - Frontiers in Oncology
IS - FEB
M1 - 38
ER -