Radiation-induced carcinogenesis

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Radiation-induced carcinogenesis is widely but not universally believed to occur at exposures from ionizing radiation used in medical imaging. It is thought to be a stochastic effect of ionizing radiation, with the linear no-threshold theory (LNT) proposing no "safe" level of radiation exposure, and an increased risk of cancer with increasing dose . The LNT is not universally accepted with some proposing an adaptive dose-response relationship where low doses are protective and high doses are detrimental .

The latency period between radiation exposure and cancer detection varies :

leukemia: minimum of 2-3 years with a peak incidence at 10 years after radiation exposure
solid tumors: minimum of 10-15 years with a peak incidence of up to 50 years after radiation exposure