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Ionising radiation as a cause of breast cancer

In the United States, more than 220,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer each year and the disease kills more than 37,000 women each year in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. 

Radiation a major risk factor for breast cancer? Food Consumer, By David Liu, PHD July 29, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) — Last December a committee of the Institute of healths released a study report sponsored by Susan G. Komen for the Cure indicating that medical radiation and hormone-based therapy are two major risk factors for breast cancer for women in the United States.

The IOM press release says that women can reduce their risk for breast cancer by avoiding unnecessary medical radiation, forgoing use of
estrogen-progestin menopausal hormone replacement therapy, limiting
alcohol drinking, maintaining a healthy body weight, engaging physical
exercise regularly and avoiding tobacco use.

In response to the report, Rebecca Voelker wrote an article in JAMA
last January to add some details about how dangerous ionizing
radiation used for medical diagnostics and disease treatment is.  She
cited committee member Robert Hiatt, MD, PhD, of the University of
California in San Francisco as saying “the amount of ionizing
radiation from 3 abdominal CT scans is equivalent to levels that
Japanese women were exposed to in the World War II atomic bomb
explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”……
Ionizing radiation is recognized as a carcinogen by the National
Toxicology Program.  Dr.  John Gofman, PHD and MD, a nuclear physician
who passed away years ago said 75 percent of breast cancer cases have
something to do with medical radiation and the damage by ionizing
radiation is irreversible.  He said there is no safe dose and any
amount of radiation causes damage and increases cancer risk.

The majority of doctors do not want to discuss with their cancer
patients about the cancer risk posed by medical radiation fearing that
patients may make a wrong decision and opt not to use radiation
therapy.  The patients should have a right to know the risk they have
to face and they are able to make an informed decision once they learn
of all the benefits and risks associated with a particular treatment
or diagnosis, some experts suggested.  Many cancer patients including
breast cancer patients who receive radiation treatment end up
developing other cancers such as leukemia and skin cancer.
Radiation can not only increase cancer risk but also risk for ischemic
heart disease, according to Dr. Gofman. Many consumers are unaware of
this risk and doctors may never bother to tell their patients about
it.

In a study published in Oct 2011 in the journal Antioxidants & Redox
Signaling, John E. Baker of Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and colleagues reported that animals exposed to doses of 15
Gy or higher of radiation were at higher risk for cardiovascular
disease.  Cancer patients commonly receive more than 15 Gy of
radiation for treatment.  Such a dose is so high that radiologists
have to administer it in weeks to minimize side effects so that the
patients may tolerate the treatment.  Radiation on the chest as breast
cancer treatment is particularly harmful to the heart.

It is not just radiation used to treat cancer can increase risk of
cancer.  Studies have shown that radiation used in mammography
intended for breast cancer screening may increase breast cancer risk.

Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, professor emeritus of Environmental and
Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public
Health says on his website preventcancer.com postmenopausal women who
undergo annual mammogram breast cancer screening for a ten-year period
would receive exposure to about 10 rads of radiation for each breast.

He says each rad results in one cancer case in every 100 premenstrual
women. A woman with exposure to 10 rads or receiving 10 screenings in
10 years would have a 10 percent risk of developing breast cancer, or
10 percent of women would develop the disease.

The risk of breast cancer from mammography is even greater in women
with certain genetic variants.  Among women who carry A-T gene, the
risk is four times higher. The radiation-induced breast cancer
accounts for 20 percent of all breast cancers annually in the United
States, Epstein says.

In the United States, more than 220,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer each year and the disease kills more than 37,000 women each year in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Environment/radiation_breast_cancer_072920121119.html

July 30, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, women