TUESDAY JULY 15, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in the British Journal of Cancer suggests that exposure to diagnostic x-ray may increase the risk of young-onset prostate cancer, which accounts for about 10 percent of all prostate cancer cases.

The study led by researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK established an association, but it did not mean exposure to x-ray was the cause for the increased prostate cancer risk.

X-ray, as an ionizing radiation, however, has been recognized by the U.S government as a human carcinogen, meaning exposure to it increases cancer risk.

The study, the first of its kind, revealed a correlation between low-dose ionizing radiation from diagnostic procedures and the risk of prostate cancer, according to a statement issued by the University.

Exactly, the study showed that men who had a hip or pelvic x-ray or barium enema 10 years previously were 2.5 times more likely to have prostate cancer than the general population.

And the association seemed to be stronger in men who had a family history of the disease.

The study was conducted by Professor Kenneth Muir, from the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health at The University of Nottingham and Dr Rosalind Eeles at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

Muir said the overall increase in the risk of developing prostate cancer in those who had previously had certain radiological procedures was small and there was no proof that the increase in the cancer risk was caused by radiological tests.

The study involved 431 men who were diagnosed with the disease before the age of 60.

Considered x-ray procedures included hip and leg x-rays which could be taken after an accident and barium meals and enemas which could be used to diagnose conditions in the digestive system.