Sharad Goyal, M.D.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and patients often need procedures to see the extent and location of the disease. These procedures all expose patients to radiation, which is thought to cause cancer. Our goal is to determine if radiation during heart procedures causes women to have a greater chance of developing lung cancer compared to men. We believe our findings may reduce the incidence and mortality of lung cancer in patients. By being able to discuss the risks, benefits and alternatives to medical imaging, patients will be better informed of their risk of developing cancer.

Update: We conducted a cohort study using the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) database to identify patients who received interventional cardiovascular procedures (ICP) and estimate their exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) based on the type of ICP received. We established a linkage to MIDAS and the New Jersey State Cancer Registry database to determine if exposed patients were diagnosed with cancer compared to unexposed patients. In the upcoming year, we will perform statistical analyses to estimate the relative risk of developing lung cancer after IR delivered during ICPs.