Full-Body CT Scanning May Significantly Increase Cancer Risk

"Full-body computed tomographic (CT) scanning may significantly increase the risk of cancer, according to the results of an analysis published in the September issue of Radiology. 'Our research provides definitive evidence that radiation risk is associated with full-body CT scans,' lead author David J. Brenner, PhD, DSc, from Columbia University in New York, says in a news release. 'The radiation dose from a full-body CT scan is comparable to the doses received by some of the atomic-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where there is clear evidence of increased cancer risk.'"