A large-scale retrospective study of 3.7 million children found an association between radiation exposure from medical imaging and a small but significantly increased risk of developing hematologic cancers (primarily leukemia).
Finding: Cancer risk increased with cumulative radiation dose
Dose-Response: For the highest exposure group (50 to <100 mGy), the Relative Risk (RR) for hematologic cancer was 3.59 compared to no exposure.
Note: 13.7 mGy is roughly one head CT
Attributable Risk: An estimated 10.1% of hematologic cancers in the cohort may have been attributable to medical imaging radiation, with CT scans being a major contributor.
Vulnerability: Children are more susceptible to radiation-induced cancer due to their heightened radiosensitivity and longer life expectancy for the cancer to manifest.
Take Away: Providers should critically assess the necessity of high-dose imaging like CT scans and use the lowest effective dose or possible alternative imaging (e.g. US, MRI, etc.) to prevent unnecessary cumulative exposure.
