Increased risk of haematologic malignancies among children and adolescents exposed to radiation from medical imaging

 Findings from Risk of Pediatric and Adolescent Cancer Associated with Medical Imaging (RIC) a cohort study of 3 700 000 children from Canada and the U.S. found a "significant dose-response relation between cumulative radiation dose to bone marrow and haematologic malignancies risk." The RIC study further found that susceptibility of children to radiation-induced cancer is high due to longer life expectancy compared to adults.  In addition, a European EPI-CT study indicates a "50% higher risk among children undergoing two or three CT scans than among those undergoing one scan." 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Source mentioned: 

• Smith-Bindman R, Alber SA, Kwan ML, et al. Medical Imaging and Pediatric and Adolescent Hematologic Cancer Risk . NEJM; Published online 17 September 2025. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2502098
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• Morton LM. Studying Cancer Risks Associated with Diagnostic Procedures — Interpret Wisely . NEJM; Published online 17 September 2025. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2511613

Supplemental breast cancer imaging techniques could lead to earlier detection of cancer in women with dense breasts

 Results from the Breast Screening - Risk Adapted Imaging for Density (BRAID) study were recently published in The Lancet.  BRAID is "the first randomized controlled trial to compare supplemental imaging of abbreviated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), automated who breast ultrasound (ABUS), and contrast-enhanced mammography with standard mammography (standard-of-care) in women of average population risk with dense breasts and a negative screening mammogram." 

For a period of 4.5 years (October 2019 - March 2024), 9361 women aged 50-70 across the UK were recruited and randomly assigned to ether abbreviated MRI, ABUS, or contrast-enhanced mammography.   Per 1000 examinations, cancer detection rate was 17.4 for abbreviated MRI, 4.2 for ABUS, and 19.2 for contrast-enhanced mammography. 

Click here to read more about the BRAID trial. 

Sources mentioned: 

• Gilbert FJ, Payne N, Allajbeu I, et al. Comparison of supplemental breast cancer imaging techniques—interim results from the BRAID randomised controlled trial . The Lancet; Published online 21 May 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00582-3
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• Houssami N. Breast cancer screening at a crossroads: supplemental imaging for dense breasts . The Lancet; Published online 21 May 2025. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00803-7

NCI unveils comprehensive proteogenomic dataset to help cancer researchers unravel molecular mysteries

 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is releasing data, via the National Cancer Institute (NCI) "that standardizes genomic, proteomic, imaging, and clinical data from individual studies of more than 1,000 tumors across 10 cancer types."  The purpose of this pan-cancer proteogenomic dataset is to speed up cancer research via sharing of data, namely cancer mutations and protein modifications.  Proteomics data can be accessed via the Proteomic Data Commons at https://pdc.cancer.gov/pdc/cptac-pancancer. Genomic and transcriptomic data can be accessed via the Genomic Data Commons at https://portal.gdc.cancer.gov and the Cancer Data Service at https://dataservice.datacommons.cancer.gov/.

Sources mentioned: 

1. Li Y, Dou Y, Leprevost FDV, et al. Proteogenomic data and resources for pan-cancer analysis. Cancer Cell. August 14, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2023.06.009.

2. Geffen Y, Anand S, Akiyama Y, et al. Pan-Cancer analysis of post-translational modifications reveals shared patterns of protein regulation. Cell. August 14, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.013.

3. Li Y, Dou Y, Leprevost FDV, et al. Pan-Cancer proteogenomics connects oncogenic drivers to functional states. Cell. August 14, 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.014.

Study suggests superiority of functional Imaging in assessing sarcoma outcomes

A comparison of anatomic and functional imaging in the assessment of clinical outcomes in patients with Ewing sarcoma has shown that FDG-PET, assessed by PERCIST criteria, was superior in predicting clinical benefits and identifying responses, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

See more here.

Study mentioned:
Koshkin VS, Bolejack V, Schwartz LH, et al. Assessment of imaging modalities and response metrics in Ewing sarcoma: correlation with survival [published online August 29, 2016]. J Clin Oncol. doi:10.1200/JCO.2016.68.1858.

Scans not worthwhile for most thyroid cancers

According to a new study conducted at the University of Michigan, undergoing scans after treatment does not improve survival changes of thyroid cancer patients.  According to study researcher Dr. Megan Haymart, this study, conducted on more than 28,000 thyroid cancer patients between 1998-2011, shows that "for the most part, this imaging isn't affecting survival."  Further, while a small number of thyroid cancers are aggressive and likely to return, overall, 96% of patients with thyroid cancer continue to live more than 10 years after first being diagnosed.

To read more about this study, click here.

PET-CT–guided surveillance may reduce need for surgery in some patients with advanced head and neck cancer

Patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who underwent PET-CT imaging after chemoradiation to determine if they still needed to have surgery had overall survival rates similar to those of patients who underwent planned neck dissection and chemoradiation. PET-CT imaging also resulted in fewer operations and was more cost-effective.

Read more from National Cancer Institute.

New England Journal of Medicine, April 14, 2016 (see the journal abstract).