A study led by UC San Francisco and UC Davis has concluded that radiation from medical imaging is associated with a higher risk of blood cancers in children.
The researchers examined data from nearly 4 million children and estimated that 1 in 10 blood cancers — some 3,000 cancers in all — may be attributable to radiation exposure from medical imaging. The risk increased proportionally based on the cumulative amount of radiation the children received.
The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appears Sept. 17 in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The investigation is the first comprehensive assessment using data from children and adolescents in North America that quantifies the association between radiation exposure from medical imaging and blood and bone marrow cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, which are the most common forms of cancer in children and adolescents.
Medical imaging saves lives by enabling timely diagnosis and effective treatment, but it also exposes patients to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, particularly through computed tomography (CT).
The authors caution that doctors and parents should avoid excessive radiation doses and minimize exposure when clinically feasible.
“Children are particularly vulnerable to radiation-induced cancer due to their heightened radiosensitivity and longer life expectancy,” said Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, a radiologist and professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, as well as Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF and the first author of the paper.
“While medical imaging can be lifesaving, our findings underscore the critical need to carefully evaluate and minimize radiation exposure during pediatric imaging to safeguard children’s long-term health,” said Smith-Bindman, who is also a member of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. “This involves ensuring that imaging is performed only when it provides essential information for the child’s care and, in cases such as CT scans, using the lowest possible radiation doses.”