Are NYC Lymphoma Cases and the Chernobyl Disaster Connected?

The lead researcher of the study, Roxana Moslehi, is dedicated to getting to the bottom of this mystery. She is a genetic epidemiologist, associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Albany in New York, and cancer researcher. She recently commented on the importance of the study in a press release, "any clues pointing to risk factors or causes we could learn from studying these 10 cases could be valuable in understanding the biologic mechanisms that lead to this type of cancer, and possibly to other forms of lymphoma as well. Determining the risk and causative factors is instrumental in disease prevention." So, while it is unfortunate that those involved have had to suffer some very serious consequences of the disaster, there is an upside. Their experience could quite possibly lead to massive breakthroughs not only in VLR, but other forms of lymphoma as well, by offering insight into the makeup of the cells, and how excessive exposure to harmful radiation could contribute to the disease.