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Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco have discovered the risk of oncological diseases in patients undergoing computed tomography.
It is noted that the CT procedure has become one of the key ones in the field of health diagnostics. However, patients are exposed to hazardous ionizing radiation, the levels of which can provoke the onset of cancer.
In a new study, American scientists tried to determine the level of this risk. They analyzed the results of 93 million CT scans performed by 62 million Americans in 2023 and estimated that 103 thousand cases of cancer will be recorded in the future as a result of this procedure new cases of cancer. In other words, this figure is about 5% of all cancer cases in the United States that are detected annually.
Such estimates put the risks associated with CT scans on par with the dangers of alcohol consumption and obesity, which are also associated with cancer risk. The researchers point out that the most common oncological diseases.The most common cancers caused by CT scans were colon cancer and lung cancer. The types of CT scans associated with the highest number of cancers were abdominal and pelvic scans. According to the authors of the study, doctors should use CT scans only when it is vital for the patient.
«Computed tomography often saves lives, but its potential harms are often overlooked, and even very small cancer risks will lead to a significant number of future cancers, given the huge volume of CT use in the United States», — the authors of the study emphasize.
Since 2007, the use of CT scans in the United States has increased by 35%. Third-party experts also advocated for certain restrictions on the use of this procedure. But they emphasized that there is a great deal of uncertainty in modeling that has attempted to estimate absorbed doses in different organs and the increased risk of cancer in specific locations. While some large studies have found a link between CT scans in children and young adults and increased risk of blood and brain cancer, the risks for adults have been largely extrapolated from studies of survivors of the atomic bombing of Japan or people exposed to occupational radiation.
«Because the estimates are based on the best models available to the authors, they are indirect, so there is considerable uncertainty about these estimates. Therefore, I would tell patients that if you are recommended to undergo a CT scan, it would be wise to do so», — said Stephen Duffy, Emeritus Professor of Cancer Monitoring at Queen Mary University of London.
According to him, against the background of the overall risk of cancer, computed tomography does not significantly affect the situation. He noted that out of 93 million scans, only 103 thousand cases were associated with cancer, which is only a 0.1% increase in the risk of cancer over the patient’s lifetime from CT. The risk of getting cancer in the United States is approximately 40%. Thus, the additional risk from CT is small.
The results of the study were published in JAMA Internal Medicine
Source: ArsTechnica