Study Indicates Radiation Causes Breast Cancer
Does ionizing radiation a cause of breast cancer? Cornell experts say “Yes” and go on to say:
“.. female breast tissue is highly susceptible to radiation effects.”
Then in the next breath they say:
“should not be a factor in individual decisions to undergo this procedure (mammography). The same is true for most diagnostic x-ray procedures.”
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered that radiation exposure can change cells’ microenvironment. This increases the odds that future cells will become cancerous.
The reason: signals from a cell’s microenvironment (when altered by radiation exposure) can cause a cell’s phenotype to change the way a cell uses its genes. The result can be a cell that becomes pre-cancerous AND passes this pre-cancerous condition on to future cells.
