Teenage girls exposed to radiation during the second world war have twice the risk of developing breast cancer. Historically, a similar risk is seen in those exposed to multiple chest radiographs in the assessment of tuberculosis. The increased risk becomes apparent after a latent period of more than 10 years.
However, women aged over 50 exposed to radiation through the mammographic screening programme have a decreased mortality from breast cancer.
It is unclear what the relative risk of radiation would be if younger women were offered mammographic screening.
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.