DCEG Mourns the Passing of Elaine Ron

Dr. Elaine Ron, a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute, died of cancer on November 20, 2010, at her home in Bethesda, Maryland. She was 67.

Dr. Ron was renowned as one of the leading experts in radiation epidemiology and in the causes of thyroid cancer, as well as being a champion of women in science. Over the course of her career she authored more than 200 scientific peer-reviewed papers and mentored researchers from around the world. She leaves as a legacy numerous junior investigators inspired by her example.

She conducted ground-breaking research. In her earliest work in Israel Dr. Ron identified the long-term cancer effects of radiation treatment for tinea capitis (a fungal infection of the scalp).

Dr. Ron joined NCI in 1986, and served as Chief of the Radiation Epidemiology Branch from 1997 to 2002. She participated in numerous international committees, including the International Commission of Radiation Protection, the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Cancer Research, and the Public Health Committee of the American Thyroid Association.

"Elaine contributed enormously to our understanding of the cancer risks associated with radiation," reflected Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., M.D., Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG). "Her interests included studies of the atomic bomb survivors in Japan, residents of the former Soviet Union exposed to the radioactive compounds from the Chernobyl accident, and patients exposed to diagnostic and therapeutic radiation. In addition to addressing the biological mechanisms of disease, Dr. Ron was keenly focused on public health and policy implications of her research."

Her scientific achievements included the largest study of cancer risks among patients treated with radioactive iodine for hyperthyroidism and the first international effort to pool epidemiologic data on thyroid cancer. She recently launched a major investigation into the potential adverse effects of CT screening among children and young adults.

Shelia Hoar Zahm, Sc.D., Deputy Director of DCEG, noted, "Elaine was passionate about fighting injustice. Whether it was promoting equity for women scientists at work, preventing cruelty to animals, or advancing human rights around the globe, she refused to accept the status quo."

Dr. Ron is survived by her son, Ariel Ron, her greatest joy.

Biography

Dr. Ron received an M.P.H. from the Yale University School of Public Health and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel. Dr. Ron joined the NCI as a Visiting Associate in 1986, spent a year at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan in 1991, and was Chief of the Radiation Epidemiology Branch from 1997 to 2002. She received the NIH Director's Award, the DCEG Exemplary Service Award, and served as the Women Scientists' Advisor for DCEG. Dr. Ron has served on numerous expert radiation committees including Committee 1 of the International Commission of Radiation Protection, is a member of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Cancer Research and the Public Health Committee of the American Thyroid Association. She has been an associate editor of Radiation Research and currently is an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

Research Interests

• Ionizing radiation and cancer
• Etiology of thyroid tumors
• Multiple primary cancers

Ionizing Radiation and Cancer

To address concerns about the health effects of radiation exposure, we are evaluating the risk of radiation-associated tumors in the medical, occupational, and environmental settings. In addition, we are examining biologic mechanisms related to radiation carcinogenesis. Our research focuses on quantifying tumorigenic risks associated with acute, protracted or fractionated external radiation (x or gamma) and internal (iodine 131, plutonium and strontium) radiation. We also are assessing the frequency of chromosome translocations following both occupational and routine diagnostic x-ray examinations.

External radiation: Working with researchers from the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, we are studying cancer incidence in the Life Span Study (LSS), a long-term cohort study of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We focus on quantifying risks of benign and malignant tumors, on describing the dose-response relation and on better understanding the modifying effects of gender, age and time. In collaboration with investigators at the University of Newcastle we are conducting a cohort study of over 200,000 persons who received CT scans before the age of 18 years. We will follow cohort members through national registries in the U.K. to identify cancers for the period 1985 - 2008. Doses will be estimated from radiology department computerized listings of CT scans.

Internal radiation: Radioactive iodines are widely used in medicine and can pose a health threat when accidently released into the environment by nuclear power plants. In an attempt to clarify the impact of radioiodines in carcinogenesis, we are studying several cohorts of patients exposed to diagnostic or therapeutic I-131. We also are evaluating the radiation-related risks of thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases in a cohort of people less than 18 years old at the time of the Chernobyl accident and resident in contaminated regions in Ukraine and Belarus. Members of the cohort have been screened three or four times by ultrasound and palpation. In collaboration with investigators from the Russian Federation, we are investigating the relationship between cancer mortality and protracted radiation exposure among nearly 26,000 workers at the Mayak nuclear facility in Ozyorsk, Russia, who were exposed to external and/or internal radiation, and about 30,000 persons living in villages near a river polluted by radioactive wastes from the facility. We also are assessing thyroid disease among persons potentially exposed to environmental I-131 from atmospheric emissions from the nuclear facility.

Etiology of Thyroid Tumors

Thyroid cancer incidence has been rising in many developed countries, yet the reasons for this rapid increase are unknown. We are performing a detailed comparative tumor analysis of molecular alterations and histopathology of papillary carcinomas currently treated and of tumors removed surgically more than 30 years ago. This approach may provide important clues to the reasons for the increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer. Radiation is the only well-defined cause of thyroid cancer. To elucidate other etiologic factors, we have initiated a thyroid cancer working group in DCEG. We currently are studying BMI and physical activity, diet, various medical conditions and reproductive factors in two large DCEG cohorts. To further our understanding of radiation as a thyroid cancer risk factor, we are leading an international pooled analysis of 13 studies.

Multiple Primary Cancers

With more early diagnosis and improved treatment, cancer patients are surviving longer and thus become at risk for developing a second primary cancer. Studying multiple primaries provides an opportunity to explore etiologic relationships, as well as treatment effects. Using data from the NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, we are studying several individual first and second cancer sites, e.g. thyroid, salivary, male and female breast as well as different types of radiation treatment for breast and other cancers.

Keywords

atomic bomb survivors, CT scans, I-131, ionizing radiation, multiple primary cancers, radiation, thyroid tumors

Selected Publications

• Enewold L, Zhu K, Ron E, Marrogi AJ, Stojadinovic A, Peoples GE, Devesa SS. Rising thyroid cancer incidence in the United States by demographic and tumor characteristics, 1980-2005. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009 Mar;18(3):784-91.
• Sigurdson AJ, Bhatti P, Preston DL, Doody MM, Kampa D, Alexander BH, Petibone D, Yong LC, Edwards AA, Ron E, Tucker JD. Routine diagnostic X-ray examinations and increased frequency of chromosome translocations among U.S. radiologic technologists. Cancer Res 2008 Nov 1;68(21):8825-31.
• Preston DL, Ron E, Tokuoka S, Funamoto S, Nishi N, Soda M, Mabuchi K, Kodama K. Solid cancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors: 1958-1998. Radiat Res 2007 Jul;168(1):1-64.
• Ron E. Childhood cancer--treatment at a cost. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006 Nov 1;98(21):1510-1.
• Mushkacheva G, Rabinovich E, Privalov V, Povolotskaya S, Shorokhova V, Sokolova S, Turdakova V, Ryzhova E, Hall P, Schneider AB, Preston DL, Ron E. Thyroid abnormalities associated with protracted childhood exposure to 131I from atmospheric emissions from the Mayak weapons facility in Russia. Radiat Res 2006 Nov;166(5):715-22.
• Ron E, Ikeda T, Preston DL, Tokuoka S. Male breast cancer incidence among atomic bomb survivors. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005 Apr 20;97(8):603-5.

Collaborators

DCEG Collaborators

• Amy Berrington, Ph.D.; Houda Boukheris, M.D.; Andre Bouville, Ph.D.; Alina Brenner, M.D., Ph.D.; Rochelle Curtis, M.A.; Michele Doody, M.P.H.; Ethel Gilbert, Ph.D.; Maureen Hatch, Ph.D.; Ruth Kleinerman, M.P.H.; Charles Land, Ph.D.; Martha Linet, M.D., M.P.H.; Jay Lubin, Ph.D.; Kiyohiko Mabuchi, M.D., Dr.P.H.; Cari Meinhold, M.P.H.; Gila Neta, Ph.D., Sara Schonfeld, Ph.D.; Alice Sigurdson, Ph.D; Margaret Tucker, M.D., Lene Veiga, Ph.D.

Other NCI Collaborators

• Jeffrey Struewing, M.D.

Other Scientific Collaborators

• Alexander Akleyev, M.D., Ludmilla Krestinina, M.D., Evgenia Ostroumova, M.D., Urals Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Chelyabinsk, Russia
• Parveen Bhatti, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• David Brenner, D.Sc., Robert McConnell, M.D., Columbia University, New York, NY
• Gabriel Chodick, Ph.D., Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel-Aviv, Israel
• Faith Davis, Sc.D., University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
• Kyoji Furukawa, Ph.D., Shoji Tokuoka, M.D. Radiation Effects Research Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan
• Per Hall, M.D., Stefan Lonn, Ph.D., Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
• Nina Koshurnikova, M.D., Ph.D., Evgenia Rabinovich, M.D., Mikhail Solnikov, South Urals Biophysics Institute, Ozyorsk, Russia
• Yuri Nikiforov, M.D., University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Louise Parker, Ph.D., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Mark Pearce, Ph.D., University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle, UK
• Dale Preston, Ph.D., Hirosoft International, Seattle, WA
• Anatoly Romanenko, M.D., Institute of Radiation Medicine, Kiev, Ukraine
• Arthur Schneider, M.D., Ph.D., University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
• Marilyn Stovall, Ph.D., M.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas, Houston, TX
• Mykola Tronko, M.D., Institute of Endocrinology, Kiev, Ukraine
• Yong LC, Ph.D. NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH
• Lydia Zablotska, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, CA