Low-dose radiation and leukemia.

We investigated the effect of diagnostic and low-level therapeutic radiation (less than 300 rads to the bone marrow) on the development of leukemia. During this study, 138 patients with leukemia (representing all known incidence cases of leukemia in residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, between 1955 and 1974) were each matched with two controls, and the lifelong experiences of both groups with regard to diagnostic and therapeutic radiation were ascertained. No statistically significant increase was found in the risk of developing leukemia after radiation doses of 0 to 300 rads (3 Gy) to the bone marrow when these amounts were administered in small doses over long periods of time, as in routine medical care.