STANFORD, Calif., July 23 (UPI) -- Researchers have found links between computed tomography (CT) scanning and cell damage in the body, linking repeated scans to the potential for cancer.
While the researchers note the scans haven't been determined to cause cancer, the doses of radiation emitted by CT machines have a detectable effect on patients, according to a new study.
CT scans are used in the diagnosis and monitoring of many conditions, including cardiac conditions which can involve tens of scans over the course of treatment. A single scan exposes a person to at least 150 times the amount of radiation from a single chest X-ray.
"We now know that even exposure to small amounts of radiation from computed tomagraphy scanning is associated with cellular damage," said Dr. Patricia Nguyen, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University, in a press release. "Whether or not this causes cancer or any negative effect to the patient is still not clear, but these results should encourage physicians toward adhering to dose reduction strategies."
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Researchers studied the blood of 67 people undergoing cardiac CT angiograms before and after going through the procedure. They used techniques such as whole-genome sequencing and flow cytometery to measure damage to DNA, finding an increase in DNA damage and cell death, as well as increased expression of genes used involved in both the repair and death of cells.
The researchers noted that they did not see DNA damage in patients who were in the best relative health condition and receiving the lowest dosages of radiation, as well as the appearance that most damaged cells were repaired, leaving a small percentage of them dying due to radiation.
"Due to our rapidly growing reliance on imaging for diagnosis and monitoring, many patients now receive more radiation from medical imaging than ever before, a trend that will likely continue to accelerate," researchers wrote in the study. "This raises growing concerns about the potential risk from exposure to low-dose radiation from medical imaging."
The study is published in Cardiovascular Imaging.
