nuclear-news

Young people at risk of brain tumours from ionising radiation

Radiation a risk factor for brain tumors in young people, study finds Medical Xpress 3 Nov 14 In people under age 30, radiation is a risk factor for a type of brain tumor called a meningioma, a Loyola University Medical Center study has found. Researchers analyzed records of 35 patientswho were diagnosed with meningiomas before age 30. Five had been exposed to ionizingradiation earlier in their lives. They include two patients who received radiation for leukemia at ages 5 and 6; one who received radiation at age 3 for a brain tumor known as a medulloblastoma; and one who received radiation for an earlier skull base tumor that appeared to be a meningioma. The fifth patient had been exposed at age 9 to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine. Twenty years later, he was diagnosed with a meningioma.

In the five patients, the average latency period for the tumors was 23.5 years.

The study was published in the online journal Neuroscience Discovery.

“The results of this preliminary study have prompted us to look closely at radiation’s effects on the brain,” said Loyola neurosurgeon Vikram Prabhu, MD, first author of the study. Dr. Prabhu specializes in treating brain tumors……….

Researchers so far have identified 14 meningioma patients who were exposed to radiation earlier in their lives. They include three patients who were exposed to Chernobyl radiation and 11 patients who received therapeutic radiation for such conditions as leukemia, medulloblastoma tumors and fungal infections of the scalp……….

The study is titled “Intracranial meningiomas in individuals under the age of 30; Analysis of risk factors, histopathology and the recurrence rate.”

 Explore further: Chest radiation to treat childhood cancer increases patients’ risk of breast cancer

More information: “Intracranial meningiomas in individuals under the age of 30; Analysis of risk factors, histopathology, and recurrence rate.” Neuroscience DiscoveryISSN 2052-6946. www.hoajonline.com/neuroscienc… stract/2052-6946/2/1

November 4, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, children