Multiple exposure to radiation from computed tomography scans in children may raise the risk of leukemia and brain tumors a decade later, according to government-funded research published in The Lancet journal. The additional risk of leukemia or a brain cancer 10 years after a 10-milligray dose of radiation from a CT scan is less than 1 in 10,000, according to an analysis of more than 175,000 patients in Great Britain who received a CT scan between 1985 and 2002 when they were younger than 22. That risk may triple in children after multiple scans accumulate to 60 milligrays, researchers at Newcastle University and the U.S. National Cancer Institute wrote in the journal today.
