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The risk of cancer attributable to diagnostic medical radiation: Estimation for France in 2015
Author(s) -
MarantMicallef Claire,
Shield Kevin D.,
Vignat Jérôme,
Cléro Enora,
Kesminiene Ausrele,
Hill Catherine,
Rogel Agnès,
Vacquier Blandine,
Bray Freddie,
Laurier Dominique,
Soerjomataram Isabelle
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.32048
Subject(s) - medicine , cancer , ionizing radiation , attributable risk , latency stage , breast cancer , lung cancer , incidence (geometry) , nuclear medicine , epidemiology , irradiation , physics , nuclear physics , optics
Although medical ionizing radiation (IR) has clear clinical benefits, it is an established carcinogen. Our study estimates the number of new cancer cases in France in 2015 attributable to IR exposure from medical procedures. Exposures from external (X‐rays, CT scans, interventional radiology) and internal (nuclear medicine) sources were considered. We used 2007 national frequencies of diagnostic examinations by sex and age to estimate the lifetime organ dose exposure adjusted for changes in the use of such procedures over time. The Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII risk models were used to estimate the corresponding excess cancer risk, assuming an average latency period of 10 years. Additionally, we used cancer incidence data from the French Cancer Registries Network. Of the 346,000 estimated new cancer cases in adults in France in 2015, 2300 cases (940 among men and 1360 among women) were attributable to diagnostic IR, representing 0.7% of all new cancer cases (0.5% for men and 0.9% for women). The leading cancers attributable to medical IR were female breast ( n = 560 cases), lung ( n = 500 cases) and colon ( n = 290 cases) cancers. Compared to other risk factors, the contribution of medical IR to the cancer burden is small, and the benefits largely outweigh its harms. However, some of these IR‐associated cancer cases may be preventable through dose optimization of and enhanced justification for diagnostic examinations.