Breast cancer risk can be lowered by avoiding unnecessary imaging, according to an article published online June 11 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The article is an analysis of a report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) last December that described potential environmental risks for breast cancer, including factors such as pesticides, beauty products, household chemicals, and the plastics used to make water bottles. The report, commissioned by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, concluded that there were not enough data to confirm or rule out that exposure to most of these factors caused breast cancer.
The report did, however, identify two factors that definitely increased risk: postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and radiation exposure from medical imaging.
In this week's special article, Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman of the University of California, San Francisco analyzed the IOM report findings as they relate to medical imaging (Arch Int Med, June 11, 2012).
While CT scans and other forms of medical imaging have revolutionized medicine and can be life-saving, women need to engage their doctors in the decision-making process and insist on the necessity and safety of all radiological scans they undergo, according to Smith-Bindman.
"Avoiding and reducing exposure to medical radiation is one of the primary evidence-based actions that could reduce breast cancer risk, and the medical community should do everything in our power to reduce unnecessary exposure as quickly as possible," she wrote.
