Children can get cancer from CT scans from a young age
Children who have frequent CT scans are three times more likely to develop leukemia, brain and bone marrow cancers as adults.
That is the result of research by a group of scientists.
Scientists conducted a study of about 180,000 people who had a CT scan (computerized tomography) as children or under 22 years old between 1985 and 2002. The results showed that among these people, there were 74 cases of leukemia and 135 cases of brain cancer.
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According to experts, people exposed to up to 30 mGy of radiation have a three times higher risk of developing leukemia in their lifetime than patients exposed to less than 5 mGy of radiation. Meanwhile, people exposed to 50 - 74 mGy of radiation have a three times higher risk of developing brain tumors. The incidence of leukemia is 1/10,000 in people who have had a CT scan before the age of 10.
This is the first study to provide direct evidence of a link between early-life exposure to radiation from CT scans and cancer risk later in life. Scientists recommend that, although the risk of cancer is very small, CT scans should be avoided as much as possible and alternative diagnostic methods should be used for young patients.
Lead researcher Mark Pearce said it was important to only use CT scans once the pathology had been fully assessed.
According to Chinhphu-M
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