Common Medical Scan Linked to Startling Number of Cancer Cases

There's a new research study warning the potential danger of CT scans, especially in younger patients.

According to the Institute of Cancer Research of London, the overuse of CT scans could cause over 100,000 cases of cancer in the U.S., with almost 10,000 cases in children. The new modeling study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, the high number of CT scans carried out in the U.S. in 2023 could cause 5 percent of all cancers in the country. That number is staggering because the figure is equal to number of cancers caused by alcohol.

A team of renowned researchers with the ICR, Kaiser Permanente and the University of California, San Francisco, are concerned about increasing radiation doses used in CT scans and the rising rates of use in the U.S. 

In a nutshell, there's a concern about the number of CT scans carried our in the U.S. each year. The study reveals that, since 2009, the number of CT scans carried out in the U.S. rose by a staggering 30 percent.

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What's more, the study's model found that the CT scans carried out in 2.5 million children would result in 9,700 cancers. The study shows that although cancer risk from radiation is higher in children, CT scans were carried out more frequently in adults, resulting in more expected cancers in the older population. 

Amid its findings, the Institute of Cancer Research implores for CT scans only if they're clinically justified. 

"In the UK, regulations mean that CT scans requests are reviewed by radiologists and only carried out when clinically justified with optimised doses," the study finds. "Because of this, the UK has one of the lowest rates of CT scans per population in OECD countries -- less than 100 scans per 1,000 people, compared with over 250 scans per 1,000 people in the U.S." 

CT scans are used to screen for a number of medical issues, including cancer. But while they are routine and apparently rampant in the U.S, the small risks associated with CT scans add up.

“While CT scans are immensely beneficial in diagnosing and detecting many conditions, including cancer, they do involve exposure to ionising radiation that has been shown to increase the risk of developing cancer. It’s important to note that for the individual patient, this increased risk is small, and the benefits far outweigh the risks if the scan is clinically justified," the study says. "But when millions of CT scans are being carried out across the population, these small risks do add up. In the US, CT-related cancers could now account for 5 percent of all cancers – some of these cancers could be prevented by avoiding unnecessary scans and ensuring correct doses are used."