It would be great if doctors actually knew everything about cancer and radiation when it comes to cost vs benefit, but there is still a lot that isn't certain, especially since our cancers, heredity, and individual health are all different. It is a work in progress. So some estimation goes into making difficult decisions about what to recommend for treatment and testing.
Being concerned about radiation and trying to find some accurate way to pin it down really is different than being scared about it and wishing it wasn't part of the therapy. But as long as no one is actively measuring and consistently tracking a representative group of us in terms of just what kinds and how much radiation we are getting and what the results are long-term, would anyone have a really meaningful grasp of how much we are actually getting? Or of how much is probably "too much" and the cause of more cancer?
Does anyone know of any reputable long-term studies specifically of cancer patients that include the use of chest x-rays, mammograms, CTs, bone scans, and therapeutic radiation that have been or are being performed to provide documented guidance for our doctors in providing our care?
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