Neuruppin, 29 January 2024
A donation from the local savings bank Ostprignitz-Ruppin, its foundation and the Union cinema in Neuruppin goes to the Institute of Biostatistics and Registry Research at the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB). A total of € 4,400 will support a further exploration of correlations between CT radiation and cancer risks in children.
The donation campaign started on the International Children’s Day 2023. The Union cinema offered movie posters – always highly popular with cinema fans – and other promotional articles for voluntary contributions. The savings bank rounded up the proceeds, exactly € 501.90 according to Mandy Seier from the cinema, to € 1.000. The board of the bank’s foundation added € 3,300. Speaking on behalf of the savings bank and as a foundation member, Petra Beister underlined the importance of research and general efforts for the benefit of children.
The Institute of Biostatistics and Registry Research headed by Prof. Dr. Michael Hauptmann develops methodological and statistical approaches for application to medical data to explore causes, prevention and treatment of disorders. Researchers from the institute were recently involved in the large-scale international EPI-CT Study with almost one million participants. The study confirmed a significant dose-response relation between the radiation dose during CT and the risk of brain tumor and leukemia in children. The study included approximately one million individuals who underwent at least one CT prior to their 22nd year. The radiation dose was estimated for each trial participant. Linking up this information with national cancer registries, researchers identified persons who developed one of the two most common forms of cancer affecting children – leukemia and brain tumors - in the years after CT.
Prof. Hauptmann points to the usefulness and popularity of CTs because they serve to identify many disorders and to save children: “But CTs use radiation, which may cause cancer, and we obviously want to prevent that.”
Further analysis of large data collection to gain new insights
Results of studies performed to date underline the significance of stricter radiation protection measures in CTs. Physicians should therefore carefully consider the necessity of CTs and perform them only if unavoidable, select a lower radiation dose or opt for alternative imaging techniques.
Previous studies have yielded a comprehensive collection of data, parts of which remain unevaluated. According to Prof. Hauptmann, the donation will finance the start of a further third-party funded research project. New statistical techniques will have to be developed to identify further correlations between CT radiation and other types of cancer in children and adolescents.
“The statistical methods available at present do not permit a joint analysis of all types of cancer that may develop in various body organs, and a separate consideration of the radiation effects on each organ. The methods we are developing will be useful in future studies as well,” so Prof. Hauptmann on this important contribution to improved radiation protection specifically for children.
Laura Sauter and Anne Krogmann, both employees of the local savings bank and in advisory functions for MHB students and MBH-related affairs (see photo above), are themselves parents of children and fully support continued research in the field.
