Overview

• The NIH-funded analysis, led by UCSF and UC Davis and published Sept. 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine, evaluated real-world pediatric imaging exposure and subsequent cancer diagnoses.
• Health records for about 3.7 million children born 1996–2016 across six U.S. systems and Ontario were followed for roughly a decade, during which 2,961 hematologic malignancies were identified.
• Risk rose with cumulative dose, with one or two head CTs associated with about 1.8 times higher risk and more scans linked to roughly 3.5 times higher risk.
• Modality mattered: CT contributed the bulk of radiation exposure while plain radiographs delivered far lower doses, and among children who had a head CT about a quarter of subsequent blood cancers were attributed to that radiation.
• Authors estimate roughly 10% of pediatric hematologic cancers could be prevented through fewer low‑value scans, lower radiation doses, and greater use of MRI or ultrasound when appropriate.