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According to a new study from the National Cancer Institute, CT scans, used in medical imaging may increase the risk of brain tumors. The use of computed tomography (CT) scans has increased, the scans improve diagnostic capabilities but they deliver higher radiation doses than other tests.
Radiation protection is very important especially among children who may receive higher radiation doses, children are more susceptible to radiation-related malignancies than adults and have more time to show effects from the potential risk. The most common malignancies caused by radioactivity among children and young adults are leukemia and brain tumors.
Researchers evaluated leukemia and brain tumor risks following exposure to radiation from CT scans in childhood. For a nationwide group of 168,394 Dutch children who received one or more CT scans between 1979 and 2012, researchers obtained cancer incidence and vital status by record linkage.
They surveyed radiology departments to ascertain eligibility and participation. Overall cancer incidence was 1.5 times higher than expected. For all brain tumors combined, and for malignant and nonmalignant brain tumors separately, dose-response relationships were observed with radiation dose to the brain. Relative risks increased to between two and four for the highest dose category.
Increased cancer risk may be due to confounding by indication, because the incidence of brain tumors was higher in the cohort than in the general population. CT scans are sometimes used to identify conditions associated with an increased tumor risk; the reason these children had CT scans may be associated with their risk of developing cancer.