A shocking link between computed tomography (CT) scans and cancer has been announced with breaking news reports claiming that CT scans might be responsible for up to 103 000 new cancer cases annually, including 9 700 in children.
These figures are based on a study by the Institute of Cancer Research in London and published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal. CT scans are commonly used for medical diagnosis and study in the U.S., UK and abroad.
CT is frequently lifesaving, yet its potential harms are often overlooked, and even very small cancer risks will lead to a significant number of future cancers given the tremendous volume of CT use in the United States.
According to a New York Times Post, this high incidence of CT scan-correlated cancers accounts for as much as 5 percent of all cancers in the U.S. “If current practices persist, CT-associated cancer could eventually account for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses annually,” the researchers state in JAMA internal Medicine. This percentage is comparable to cancer cases caused by alcohol.
“Just when we think that CT scans are beneficial in detecting cancer, they are put on equal footing with alcohol drinking when it comes to cancer risk,” says an article in the Tech Times.
Who Is At Risk?
CT scans have been increasingly used as a means of diagnosing and studying cancer for treatment purposes. In 1980, 3-million CT scans were implemented in the U.S. Only 44 years later, this figure has risen substantially to 93-million scans annually in the U.S.
Reports say that currently 62 million patients undergo a CT scan each year in the U.S alone.
The risk of CT scans causing cancer is estimated to be higher for adolescents and for children. However, adults account for a higher number of the projected cancer cases in the study, according to the researchers. This is because adults are more likely to have to have CT scans in the first place, and have a greater exposure rate.
The CT scans which appear to result in the highest cancer risks include the pelvis and abdomen CT scans. This is followed by the chest CT scans. The most common cancers identified by the study include leukemia and bladder cancer, as well as lung and colon cancer.
In females, breast cancer was also common.
A Call For Stricter CT Scan Protocol
Medical professionals praise CT scans for their necessity in the diagnoses of many serious conditions, cancer being one of these. They have been called quick, accurate, and affordable. Their usefulness and effectiveness, says the reports, is ‘woven into the fabric of modern medicine.’
The reason for the cancer link has been pinpointed to radiation levels. As a result, researchers and health officials have been urged to adopt stricter protocols and better education, reducing preventable cancers linked to CT radiation.
‘While CT aids diagnosis, leading to improved outcomes, it also exposes patients to ionizing radiation at levels known to be associated with increased cancer risk,” says the JAMA Internal Medicine report.
The researchers recommend: “Justification of use and optimization of dose, including consideration of the need for multiphase examinations, are the tenets of CT imaging and must be applied uncompromisingly to mitigate potential harm.’