Computed tomography scans have become vital, even lifesaving, medical imaging for diagnosing and monitoring health conditions. But they do expose patients to ionizing radiation at levels linked to higher risks of cancer. In a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers tried to estimate what those higher risks are exactly—and although the estimates come with uncertainty, they may seem startling. Based on data from 93 million CT scans performed on 62 million people in 2023, the researchers estimated that the CT scans would lead to 103,000 future cancers. To put...

Computed tomography scans – also known as CT, or Cat, scans – may be causing 1 in 20 cancers, a study has found. About five million of the scans, which use X-rays to create detailed internal pictures of the body, are carried out each year on the NHS. But new research from the University of California (UC) suggests they could lead to lung, breast and other cancers, with a tenfold increased risk for babies. Modelling showed that nearly 103,000 cancers were expected from the 93 million CT scans that were...

Your next computed tomography, or CT, scan might be riskier than commonly assumed. A study out today calculates that CT scans are contributing to a substantially greater share of cancer cases than past research has suggested. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, led the research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine. They estimated that out of the millions of people who received CT scans in 2023, over 100,000 would eventually develop cancer in their lifetime. The scientists argue that CT scans should be seen as a cancer risk factor...