A revised estimate of the risk of carcinogenesis from x-rays to scoliosis patients.

A considerable amount of concern has been felt recently for the risk of carcinogenesis from x-rays to scoliosis patients. This paper re-evaluates risk in quantitative terms by using some data measured by us and other data recently published in the literature. The risks are considerably smaller than had been estimated earlier. Compared with the natural incidence of cancer in the general population, the cumulative additional risk for scoliosis patients varies from 0.2% for breast carcinoma to 5% for leukemia.