Although computed tomography (CT) scans are very useful for identification or surveillance of malignancy, they are also associated with the risk of cancer caused by ionizing radiation. We investigated the risk of second primary malignancies (SPMs) after frequent abdominopelvic CT scans in a cohort of Korean patients with early gastric cancer (EGC). We performed a cohort study of 11,072 patients who underwent resection for EGC at Samsung Medical Center and validated the results using data from 7908 patients in a Korean National Health Insurance Service cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for intra-abdominal SPM. During 43,766.5 person-years of the follow-up at our center, 322 patients developed intra-abdominal SPMs. Patients who underwent receiving >8 abdominopelvic CT scans had a significantly greater risk of developing SPM (HR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.66-4.50; p < 0.001) than those who had with ≤8 scans. For each additional abdominopelvic CT scan, the adjusted HR for SPM was 1.09 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.14). Similar results were observed in the Korean National Health Insurance Service cohort (adjusted HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.07-1.22). Significantly elevated risk of SPM was still observed when considering a 2-year latency period (adjusted HR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.37-4.48) and a 3-year latency period (adjusted HR, 2.17; 95% CI, 1.06-4.47). Frequent abdominopelvic CT scans are associated with an elevated risk of SPMs after the treatment of EGC. Thus, physicians need to weigh carefully the clinical benefits of CT examinations against the potential risks of radiation exposure.
Keywords: computed tomography; early gastric cancer; radiation exposure.