Assessing cancer risks of low-dose radiation

• Published in: Nature reviews. Cancer Vol. 9; no. 8; pp. 596 - 604
• Main Authors: Mullenders, Leon, Atkinson, Mike, Paretzke, Herwig, Sabatier, Laure, Bouffler, Simon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.08.2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer; Cancer Research; Carcinogenesis; Carcinogens; DNA Damage; Health aspects; Humans; Ionizing radiation; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - etiology; Radiation Dosage; Radiation, Ionizing; Risk Assessment; Risk factors; science-and-society; Signal Transduction - radiation effects; Sound; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1474-175X; 1474-1768; 1474-1768
• DOI: 10.1038/nrc2677

A major challenge exists in assessing the risk of developing cancer from exposures to low-dose radiation — which are encountered during diagnostic scans, for example. What factors influence low-dose cancer risk and what might this mean for current protection measures? Ionizing radiation is considered a non-threshold carcinogen. However, quantifying the risk of the more commonly encountered low and/or protracted radiation exposures remains problematic and subject to uncertainty. Therefore, a major challenge lies in providing a sound mechanistic understanding of low-dose radiation carcinogenesis. This Perspective article considers whether differences exist between the effects mediated by high- and low-dose radiation exposure and how this affects the assessment of low-dose cancer risk.