Radiation from CT Scans Performed in Just 1 Year Could Lead to Over 100,000 Future Cancer Diagnoses, Study Finds

• A recently published study has found that the radiation from CT scans could potentially lead to thousands of cancer diagnoses

• "These findings suggest that if current radiation dosing and utilization practices continue, CT-associated cancers could eventually account for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses annually," one of the key points listed

• The study was released on Monday, April 14 by JAMA Internal Medicine

A new study has found that the radiation from CT scans could eventually lead to over 100,000 future cancer diagnoses.

On Monday, April 14, JAMA Internal Medicine — a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association — released a study explaining how "approximately 93 million computed tomography (CT) examinations are performed on 62 million patients annually in the United States."

"Ionizing radiation from CT is a known carcinogen," the authors claimed.

CT (often pronounced as “cat”) scans use a mix of X-ray and computer technology to provide detailed images of the body, per John Hopkins Medicine, which added that “the amount of radiation dose used in a CT scan is small.”

Per the JAMA Internal Medicine study's findings, "In this risk model, the 93 million CT examinations performed in 62 million patients in 2023 were projected to result in approximately 103,000 future cancers. Although the per-examination cancer risk was higher in children, higher CT utilization among adults accounted for the majority of the projected cancers."

"These findings suggest that if current radiation dosing and utilization practices continue, CT-associated cancers could eventually account for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses annually," one of the key points listed in the study stated.

The study mentioned that CT scans are "an indispensable and widely performed medical imaging test," with utilization continuing "to rise" in the U.S.

"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," it claimed.

The study stated that the most common radiation-induced cancers in adults were lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia and bladder cancer, while in females, breast cancer was the second most common.

"The largest number of cancers was projected to result from abdomen and pelvis CT in adults, reflecting 37 500 of 103 000 cancers (37%) and 30 million of 93 million CT examinations (32%), followed by chest CT (21 500 cancers [21%]; 20 million examinations [21%])," the study reported.

Related: Mom Dies 90 Minutes After Being Injected with Dye for CT Scan

Elsewhere in the findings, JAMA Internal Medicine stated that "the most frequent projected cancers in children were thyroid, lung and breast cancer."

"Lung and thyroid cancer incidence were higher in female patients, whereas incidence of most other cancers was similar by sex or slightly higher in male patients," it further reported.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, radiologists have been defaulting to using higher radiation doses at times when a lower dose would suffice, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman — a University of California San Francisco (CSF) professor in residence of epidemiology, biostatistics, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive medicine — said, per a release from UCSF.

“CT is amazing technology, but we need to use it in the safest way possible,” Smith-Bindman said, per the post.

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Smith-Bindman has been working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to better regulate the radiation used by these machines.

“Historically, it was thought that each radiologist could decide on their own what they felt was the appropriate radiation dose and image quality for each scan, as opposed to having standards that everyone follows. This led to unacceptable variation among providers,” she said in the university's statement.

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