We don't really know. Data that show X dose of radiation increases the probability of developing cancer by Y% is based on studies on survivors of atomic blasts. The number of people exposed to an amount of radiation equivalent to a handful of CT scans is pretty small relative to the effect size that's claimed, so there is reason to be skeptical.
Comments
Quite rare to jump straight to an MRI - a chest MRI is a half hour deal. More common to do a CT Chest which has a 1:500 risk of causing cancer
Does this mean that out of the 5000 false positives, 10 people will actually GET cancer by doing a follow-up CT exam?
We don't really know. Data that show X dose of radiation increases the probability of developing cancer by Y% is based on studies on survivors of atomic blasts. The number of people exposed to an amount of radiation equivalent to a handful of CT scans is pretty small relative to the effect size that's claimed, so there is reason to be skeptical.
See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-much-ct-scans... for a jumping off point into this type of research.
"1:500 risk" - citation?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/do-ct-scans-c...
Looks like I may have been misrepresenting the risk to some patients; also looks like i've probably caused around 4 cases of cancer