Your Health

Whether you are a young child with cancer or a grandmother who just wants to make sure she’s in good health, medical imaging helps to detect and diagnose disease at its earliest, most treatable stages and guides physicians and patients in determining the most appropriate and effective care. Together, imaging and radiation innovations have turned countless patients into survivors.

For most of us, our own experiences bear this out. We have either benefited personally from or know someone whose life was saved or improved by these technologies. The mother who’s MRI of the breast will detect cancer in time to avoid radical surgery.  The father who’s chest CT tells his doctor that the blockage is worse than anticipated and immediate action is needed. The aunt, uncle, grandparent, and cousin whose Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) saved their life.

Beyond the anecdotes and what common sense dictates, we also know that the value of medical imaging and radiation therapy is demonstrated empirically.

From receiving a CT scan instead of a cardiac catheterization or detecting a polyp before it is cancerous, or receiving a course of radiotherapy that allows a patient to keep his daily schedule of work and home commitments rather than endure invasive surgery, peer-reviewed research confirms that these medical technologies not only improve health outcomes and save lives, but also reduce health care costs and drive down spending.

Just to give you a brief snapshot into the power of medical imaging and the curative effects of radiation therapy, consider these research findings:

• Increased regular mammography screenings have resulted in a 24 percent decrease in the death rate from breast cancer from 1990 – 2004. If detected early, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer exceeds 95 percent.
• A recent study in the Lancet found that in women who recently underwent mastectomy, the five-year risk of local breast cancer recurrence was only 6 percent for women who also received radiation therapy, compared to 23 percent for those without. Radiation therapy provides a similar advantage in women who undergo breast conserving surgeries or lumpectomies.
• For all cancers, physicians have reported that PET scanning allowed them to avoid additional tests or procedures 77 percent of the time.  Moreover, in over 36 percent of cases, PET scanning resulted in a physician’s decision to alter their patient’s course of treatment.
• Used together, external beam radiation therapy and Brachyytherapy (where a radiation source or “seed” is placed inside the area requiring treatment) have demonstrated five-year PSA-based cure rates of 96-100 percent for low risk patients and 69-97 percent for those at high or very high risk.
• A recent study showed that after treatment with a boosted dose of radiotherapy following a course of external beam radiotherapy, patients with locally advanced nasal carcinoma had excellent outcomes. Five years later, 98 percent of patients were free from local relapse, 83 percent were free from nodal relapse, and overall survival was 69 percent.
• Coronary Computed Tomographic Angiography (CCTA) rules out coronary artery disease with over 90 percent accuracy, saving patients from unnecessary surgery or un-needed trips to the cath lab.
• Increased utilization of advanced medical imaging, such as CT and MRI, between 1991 and 2004 improved life expectancy by 0.62 to 0.71 years. This effect was greater than the increases in mortality caused by obesity over the same timeframe.

Safe & Effective

Imaging procedures such as CT and radiation therapy technologies utilize medical radiation to diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases – from cancer and appendicitis to stroke and heart disease – saving and improving millions of lives each year.

As with almost all medical procedures, there can be risks associated with those using medical radiation. However, when used appropriately, the risks are miniscule. According to the National Institutes of Health, “radiation can be used for great benefit to humanity and with minimal risk, a risk comparable to or lower than those commonly accepted as an ordinary part of daily life, such as driving to work.”

Click here for more comparative statistics.

Additionally, over the past 20 years, manufacturers have introduced new products and system innovations that have reduced radiation dose for many procedures by up to 75 percent, while significantly improving and the ability of physicians to diagnose and treat their patients. Today, manufacturers are still innovating new ways to minimize radiation dose and continue to develop and implement additional patient protection features, believing that one medical error is one too many.

If you have questions or concerns about medical radiation, we encourage you to talk with your doctor about your imaging history and the appropriateness of any test or treatment so that exposure to medical radiation can be effectively managed and minimized.