title: Assessing cancer risks of low-dose radiation.
abstract: Ionizing radiation is considered a non-threshold carcinogen. However, quantifying the risk of the more commonly encountered low and/or protracted radiation exposures remains problematic and subject to uncertainty. Therefore, a major challenge lies in providing a sound mechanistic understanding of low-dose radiation carcinogenesis. This Perspective article considers whether differences exist between the effects mediated by high- and low-dose radiation exposure and how this affects the assessment of low-dose cancer risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Toxicogenetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden 2300RC, The Netherlands. L.Mullenders@lumc.nl
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mullenders
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Herwig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Paretzke
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sabatier
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouffler
mesh_terms: D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000528:radiation effects