Variability Between Radiation-Induced Cancer Risk Models in Estimating Oncogenic Risk in Intensive Care Unit Patients

To evaluate the variability of oncogenic risk related to radiation exposure in patients frequently exposed to ionizing radiation for diagnostic purposes, specifically ICU patients, according to different risk models, including the BEIR VII, ICRP 103, and US EPA models.

This was an IRB-approved observational retrospective study. A total of 71 patients (58 male, 13 female; median age, 66 years; interquartile range [IQR], 65-71 years) admitted to the ICU who underwent X-ray examinations between 1 October 2021 and 28 February 2023 were included. For each patient, the cumulative effective dose during a single hospital admission was calculated. Lifetime attributable risk (LAR) was estimated based on the BEIR VII, ICRP 103, and US EPA risk models to calculate additional oncogenic risk related to radiation exposure. The Friedman test for repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare risk values between different models. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the consistency of risk values between different models.

Different organ, leukemia, and all-cancer risk values estimated according to different oncogenic risk models were significantly different, but the intraclass correlation coefficient revealed a good (>0.75) or even excellent (>0.9) agreement between different risk models. The ICRP 103 model estimated a lower all-cancer (median 69.05 [IQR 30.35-195.37]) and leukemia risk (8.22 [3.02-27.93]) compared to the US EPA (all-cancer: 139.68 [50.51-416.16]; leukemia: 23.34 [3.47-64.37]) and BEIR VII (all-cancer: 162.08 [70.6-371.40]; leukemia: 24.66 [12.9-58.8]) models.

Cancer risk values were significantly different between risk models, though inter-model agreement in the consistency of risk values was found to be good, or even excellent.