Cancer following irradiation in childhood and adolescence.

Abstract

The child appears more sensitive than the adult to the carcinogenic effects of radiation for certain sites such as the breast and thyroid. However, there are few studies of persons who were exposed as children and adolescents who have been followed for 40 or 50 years into the adult ages. Thus, it is extremely important that follow-up studies of children continue to evaluate the lifetime cancer risk that might be related to radiation exposures in childhood.