Editing Cancer (section)

=== Radiation ===
{{Main|Radiation-induced cancer}}
Radiation exposure such as [[ultraviolet radiation]] and radioactive material is a risk factor for cancer.<ref name=NCI2019Rad>{{cite web |title=Radiation |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation |publisher=National Cancer Institute |access-date=8 June 2019 |language=en |date=29 April 2015}}</ref><ref name=WHO2019>{{cite web |title=Sunlight |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/sunlight |publisher=National Cancer Institute |access-date=8 June 2019 |language=en |date=29 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Cancer prevention |url=https://www.who.int/cancer/prevention/en/ |website=WHO |access-date=8 June 2019}}</ref> Many [[non-melanoma skin cancer]]s are due to ultraviolet radiation, mostly from sunlight.<ref name=WHO2019/> Sources of ionizing radiation include [[medical imaging]] and [[radon]] gas.<ref name=WHO2019/>

Ionizing radiation is not a particularly strong [[mutagen]].<ref name=Little>{{cite book |veditors=Kufe DW, Pollock RE, Weichselbaum RR, Bast RC, Gansler TS, Holland JF, Frei E |title=Cancer medicine | vauthors = Little JB |chapter=Chapter 14: Ionizing Radiation |edition=6th |publisher=B.C. Decker |location=Hamilton, Ont |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-55009-113-7 |chapter-url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20793/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102193148/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20793/ |archive-date=2 January 2016}}</ref> Residential exposure to [[radon]] gas, for example, has similar cancer risks as [[passive smoking]]. Radiation is a more potent source of cancer when combined with other cancer-causing agents, such as radon plus tobacco smoke. Radiation can cause cancer in most parts of the body, in all animals and at any age. Children are twice as likely to develop radiation-induced leukemia as adults; radiation exposure before birth has ten times the effect.<ref name=Little/>

Medical use of ionizing radiation is a small but growing source of radiation-induced cancers. Ionizing radiation may be used to treat other cancers, but this may, in some cases, induce a second form of cancer.<ref name=Little/> It is also used in some kinds of [[medical imaging]].<ref name="pmid18046031">{{cite journal |vauthors=Brenner DJ, Hall EJ |s2cid=2760372 |title=Computed tomography—an increasing source of radiation exposure |journal=The New England Journal of Medicine |volume=357 |issue=22 |pages=2277–84 |date=November 2007 |pmid=18046031 |doi=10.1056/NEJMra072149|url=https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/79492 }}</ref>

Prolonged exposure to [[ultraviolet radiation]] from the [[sun]] can lead to [[melanoma]] and other skin malignancies.<ref name=Cleaver>{{cite book |vauthors=Cleaver JE, Mitchell DL |veditors=Bast RC, Kufe DW, Pollock RE |title=Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine |edition=5th |publisher=B.C. Decker |location=Hamilton, Ontario |year=2000 |chapter=15. Ultraviolet Radiation Carcinogenesis |isbn=978-1-55009-113-7 |chapter-url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20854/ |access-date=31 January 2011 | display-editors = etal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904102726/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20854/ |archive-date=4 September 2015}}</ref> Clear evidence establishes ultraviolet radiation, especially the non-ionizing medium wave [[UVB]], as the cause of most non-melanoma [[skin cancer]]s, which are the most common forms of cancer in the world.<ref name=Cleaver/>

Non-ionizing [[radio frequency]] radiation from mobile phones, [[electric power transmission]] and other similar sources has been described as a [[possible carcinogen]] by the [[World Health Organization]]'s [[International Agency for Research on Cancer]].<ref>{{cite web |title=IARC classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans |url=http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf |website=World Health Organization |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601063650/http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2011/pdfs/pr208_E.pdf |archive-date=1 June 2011}}</ref> Evidence, however, has not supported a concern.<ref name=NCI2019EF>{{cite web |title=Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet |publisher=National Cancer Institute |access-date=8 June 2019 |language=en |date=7 January 2019}}</ref><ref name=NCI2019Rad/> This includes that studies have not found a consistent link between mobile phone radiation and cancer risk.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet |title=Cell Phones and Cancer Risk – National Cancer Institute |publisher=Cancer.gov |date=8 May 2013 |access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>