Aircrew Face Higher Odds of Radiation-Related Cancer Deaths

FRIDAY, Aug. 21, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Flight attendants and pilots have a higher proportion of radiation-related cancer deaths compared with other occupations, according to a research letter published online Aug. 17 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Vishal R. Patel, M.D., M.P.H., from Harvard University in Boston, and colleagues assessed whether pilots and flight attendants have elevated risk-adjusted radiation-related cancer mortality compared with other occupations. The analysis included more than 12.7 million decedents (2020 to 2024) across 503 occupations, including 14,190 pilots and 7,170 flight attendants.

The researchers found that flight attendants (6.9 percent) and pilots (6.7 percent) had the highest and second-highest risk-adjusted percentage of deaths from radiation-related cancers. When adjusting for risk, radiation-related cancer mortality remained higher both for men (6.1 percent in pilots and 6.5 percent in flight attendants) and women (8.1 percent in pilots and 7.8 percent in flight attendants). Aircrew ranked near the median of all occupations for non-radiation-related cancer deaths. Higher risk-adjusted odds of death were seen for aircrew across each cancer site, with odds reaching statistical significance for breast (odds ratio [OR], 1.61 for flight attendants and 1.57 for pilots), central nervous system (OR, 1.51 and 1.28), and prostate (OR, 1.75 and 1.38) cancers, as well as melanoma (OR, 1.63 and 1.28) and leukemia (OR, 1.27 in pilots).

“These findings support consideration of occupational radiation protections for aircrew members commensurate with their exposure level,” the authors write.

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