Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 9;51(2):537-546.
doi: 10.1093/ije/dyab140.

Diagnostic radiological examinations and risk of intracranial tumours in adults-findings from the Interphone Study

Anssi Auvinen  1   2 , Elisabeth Cardis  3   4 , Maria Blettner  5 , Monika Moissonnier  6 , Siegal Sadetzki  7 , Graham Giles  8 , Christoffer Johansen  9 , Anthony Swerdlow  10   11 , Angus Cook  12 , Sarah Fleming  13 , Gabriele Berg-Beckhoff  14 , Ivano Iavarone  15 , Marie-Elise Parent  16 , Alistair Woodward  17 , Tore Tynes  18 , Mary McBride  19 , Dan Krewski  20 , Maria Feychting  21 , Toru Takebayashi  22 , Bruce Armstrong  23 , Martine Hours  24 , Jack Siemiatycki  25 , Susanna Lagorio  15 , Signe Benzon Larsen  9 , Minouk Schoemaker  10 , Lars Klaeboe  26 , Stefan Lönn  21   27 , Joachim Schüz  6 ; INTERPHONE study group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Diagnostic radiological examinations and risk of intracranial tumours in adults-findings from the Interphone Study

Anssi Auvinen et al. Int J Epidemiol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation is among the few well-established brain tumour risk factors. We used data from the Interphone study to evaluate the effects of exposure to low-dose radiation from diagnostic radiological examinations on glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma risk.

Methods: Brain tumour cases (2644 gliomas, 2236 meningiomas, 1083 neuromas) diagnosed in 2000-02 were identified through hospitals in 13 countries, and 6068 controls (population-based controls in most centres) were included in the analysis. Participation across all centres was 64% for glioma cases, 78% for meningioma cases, 82% for acoustic neuroma cases and 53% for controls. Information on previous diagnostic radiological examinations was obtained by interviews, including the frequency, timing and indication for the examinations. Typical brain doses per type of examination were estimated based on the literature. Examinations within the 5 years before the index date were excluded from the dose estimation. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated using conditional logistic regression.

Results: No materially or consistently increased odds ratios for glioma, meningioma or acoustic neuroma were found for any specific type of examination, including computed tomography of the head and cerebral angiography. The only indication of an elevated risk was an increasing trend in risk of meningioma with the number of isotope scans, but no such trends for other examinations were observed. No gradient was found in risk with estimated brain dose. Age at exposure did not substantially modify the findings. Sensitivity analyses gave results consistent with the main analysis.

Conclusions: There was no consistent evidence for increased risks of brain tumours with X-ray examinations, although error from selection and recall bias cannot be completely excluded. A cautious interpretation is warranted for the observed association between isotope scans and meningioma.

Keywords: Radiation; acoustic; case-control studies; glioma; ionizing; meningioma; neuroma.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: Globocan estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2018;68:394–424. - PubMed
    1. Klaeboe L, Lönn S, Scheie D et al. Incidence of intracranial meningiomas in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, 1968-1997. Int J Cancer 2005;117:996–1001. - PubMed
    1. Braganza MZ, Kitahara CM, Berrington de González A, Inskip PD, Johnson KJ, Rajaraman P. Ionizing radiation and risk of brain and central nervous system tumors. Neuro Oncol 2012;14:1316–24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brenner AV, Sugiyama H, Preston DL et al. Radiation risk of central nervous system tumors in the Life Span Study of atomic bomb survivors, 1958-2009. Eur J Epidemiol 2020;35:591–600. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berrington de GA, Darby SC. Risk of cancer from diagnostic X-rays. Lancet 2004;363:345–51. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms