http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/early/2018/02/22/jnumed.117.206219
The 2006 National Academy of Sciences Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII report is a well recognized and frequently cited source on the legitimacy of the linear no-threshold (LNT) model – a model entailing a linear and causal relationship between ionizing radiation and human cancer risk. Linearity means that all radiation causes cancer and explicitly excludes a threshold, below which radiogenic cancer risk disappears. However, the BEIR VII Committee has erred in the interpretation of their selected literature; specifically, the in vitro data quoted fail to support LNT. Moreover, in vitro data cannot be considered as definitive proof of cancer development in intact organisms. This review is presented to stimulate a critical reevaluation by a BEIR VIII committee to reassess the validity, and use, of LNT and its derived policies.