CT Scans and Cancer Risk
Medical imaging has potential benefits. It has potential harms as well, and it's really important to balance them - Rebecca Smith-Bindman MD
image by: HWN
HWN Suggests
We Are Giving Ourselves Cancer
DESPITE great strides in prevention and treatment, cancer rates remain stubbornly high and may soon surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States. Increasingly, we and many other experts believe that an important culprit may be our own medical practices: We are silently irradiating ourselves to death.
The use of medical imaging with high-dose radiation — CT scans in particular — has soared in the last 20 years. Our resulting exposure to medical radiation has increased more than sixfold between the 1980s and 2006, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements. The radiation doses of CT scans (a series of X-ray images from multiple…
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Study highlights cancer risk from millions of CT scans performed annually
CT scans diagnose afflictions from tumors to kidney stones to life-threatening diseases and injuries, such as aneurysms and blood clots leading to stroke. But the radiation emitted by this essential diagnostic tool may cause more harm than previously known and could eventually be responsible for roughly 5% of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. in a single year, a new study finds.
Articles of Interest
Are CTs Really A Leading Cause Of Cancer? A Doctor Explains
The American College of Radiology (ACR) issued a pointed critique of the study. They called its conclusions “theoretical” emphasizing that there is no direct, real-world evidence linking CT scans in adults — even multiple scans — to cancer in humans. Patients "…should not forgo necessary, life-saving medical imaging,” the ACR urged, also emphasizing that newer CT technologies and protocols have significantly reduced radiation doses per scan. Today’s scans often use 30–50% less radiation than a decade ago.
Could CT scans be fuelling a future rise in cancer cases, as a new study suggests?
The risk from a single scan is low – but not zero. And the younger the patient, the greater the risk. Children and teenagers are especially vulnerable because their bodies are still developing, and any damage caused by ionising radiation may not show up until many years later.
CT Scans Causing Cancers: Researchers
Because they deliver much higher doses of radiation than traditional x-rays, CT scans are causing cancers that could be killing tens of thousands of people every year, according to researchers.
CT Scans Could Result in Over 100,000 New Cancers in the US
Even when it comes to cancer, though, CT scans are quite beneficial.
How CT Scans Have Raised Kids' Risk For Future Cancer
The cancer risk is highest for children undergoing abdominal scans; those were also the scans that involved the most radiation. For girls, 1 in 300 to 400 abdominal scans would cause a solid cancer later in life. For boys, the number is 1 in 700 to 800.
How Much Do CT Scans Increase the Risk of Cancer?
Researchers reevaluate the safety of radiation used in medical imaging.
I've had many CT scans. Should I be concerned?
CT imaging is a powerful medical tool that has saved many lives, but it is not without risks. However, when a patient needs the medical care, the benefits outweigh the risks.
The Hidden Dangers of Medical Scans
Exactly how dangerous are all those zaps? In 2009, National Cancer Institute researchers estimated that the 72 million CT scans performed in 2007 could lead to as many as 29,000 future cases of cancer. And a couple of years ago, when the Institute of Medicine looked broadly at the environmental causes of breast cancer, it concluded that one factor that's strongly associated with risk of developing the disease is ionizing radiation.
What Your Doctors Don’t Know Can Hurt You
Is your physician increasing your risk for cancer?
