Cancer risk estimation for patients undergoing whole-body PET/CT scans

The objective of this paper was to compute the effective dose, as well as the lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer related to whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scan for 193 adult patients. The mean effective dose for all patients from a single PET/CT scan was 20.6 mSv. For males aged 40 y, a single PET/CT scan is associated with a LAR of cancer incidence of 0.169%. This risk increased to 0.85% if an annual surveillance protocol for 5 y was performed. For female patients aged 40 y, the LAR of cancer mortality increased from 0.126 to 0.63% if an annual surveillance protocol for 5 y was performed. Since PET/CT scans are associated with a high dose and a risk of developing cancer, it was important to balance the advantages and risks before conducting any scans. This is especially important for younger patients and those who are overweight.

Automated summary

The aim of this paper was to calculate the effective dose and lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer related to whole-body positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scan for 193 adult patients. The mean effective dose for a single PET/CT scan was 20.6 mSv. The LAR of cancer incidence for males aged 40 y increased from 0.169% with a single scan to 0.85% with an annual surveillance protocol for 5 y. For female patients aged 40 y, the LAR of cancer mortality increased from 0.126% to 0.63% with the same surveillance protocol. It is important to balance the advantages and risks before conducting PET/CT scans, especially for younger and overweight patients.