CT scans may raise cancer risk

The hazards of radiation from CT scans was highlighted by some articles published in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine.


One study found that the number of CT scans has increased dramatically in recent years in the US putting patients at the risk of developing radiation-induced cancer. They estimated that the CT scans performed in 2007 will eventually cause 29,000 cancers and 15,000 death.


Another study found that radiation doses from common diagnostic CT scans are much higher than we previously thought and the amount of radiation varies wildly and much greater than is considered acceptable. Based on their findings, they estimated that at the age of 40, 1 in 270 women who get CT scan of the heart will develop cancer and 1 in 600 men. 1 in 8,100 women who get scans of the head and 1 in 11,080 men.


In an accompanying editorial, the author asked are such risks justified and concluded that "to avoid unnecessarily increasing cancer incidence in future years, every clinician must carefully assess the expected benefits of each CT scan and fully inform his or her patients of the known risks of radiation". Greater standardization across institutions is also needed.


Source: ( both f/t via Athens )
"Radiation Dose Associated With Common Computed Tomography Examinations and the Associated Lifetime Attributable Risk of Cancer" Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(22):2078-2086


"Cancer Risks and Radiation Exposure From Computed Tomographic Scans: How Can We Be Sure That the Benefits Outweigh the Risks?" Arch Intern Med 2009;169:2049-2050.

CT scans raise cancer risk

A research article published in this week's NEJM raised serious concerns about the cancer risks associated with CT scans due to its widespread use in America.

CT sacns are increasingly used in America to diagnose medical problems in children as well as adults, they are needlessly exposed to dangerous radiation that raises the risk of cancer.

The authors said that "too many CT studies are being performed in US" and suggested ways to reduce overall radiation dose from CT including reducing dose in individual patients, using other options and reducing the number of prescribed CT studies.

Source : "Computed Tomography — An Increasing Source of Radiation Exposure" NEJM, Volume 357(22):2277-2284 ( free full text)

CT scan may increase lifetime cancer risk

A 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) is a type of high-tech scan that is used to evaluate heart disease, but there are little data on its associated cancer risk from the radiation exposure.

A group of researchers conducted a study to estimate the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer associated with standard radiation exposure from a single heart scan using 64-slice CT coronary angiography. They found that the risk varied widely and were the highest with women in their 20s compared with other adults and concluded that CTCA should be used cautiously, especially in young women, using the lowest effective dose of radiation.

The study "Estimating Risk of Cancer Associated With Radiation Exposure From 64-Slice Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography" is published in JAMA. 2007;298(3):317-323 .