Invited commentary on 'A method for determining weights for excess relative risk and excess absolute risk when applied in the calculation of lifetime risk of cancer from radiation exposure' by Walsh and Schneider (2012)

摘要

Walsh and Schneider (2012) are to be commended for addressing the important but complex issue of how to assign model weights for transporting radiogenic risks estimated from the Japanese atomic bomb survivor life span study (LSS) cohort to the United States or other populations. (Here, the United States will be used as the non-LSS population, but comments also apply for other populations.) They maintain that they have provided a method for quantitatively choosing and weighting excess relative risk (ERR) and excess absolute risk (EAR) models based on how well they describe data from the LSS cohort. A quantitative objective method would be attractive because the currently used methods for selecting ERR and EAR model weights, for example, those advocated in BEIR VII (NAS 2006), rely heavily on subjective judgment. The authors suggest that "by providing additional quantitative results" their "method could be a useful addition and an aid to the qualitative decisions made by experts."