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Abstract Background Breast tissue is among the most sensitive tissues to the carcinogenic actions of ionizing radiation and epidemiological studies have linked radiation exposure to breast cancer. Currently, molecular understanding of radiation carcinogenesis in mammary gland is hindered due to the scarcity of in vivo long-term follow up data. We undertook this study to delineate radiation-induced persistent alterations in gene expression in mouse mammary glands 2-month after radiation exposure. Methods Six to eight week old female C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 2 Gy of whole body γ radiation and mammary glands were surgically removed 2-month after radiation. RNA was isolated and microarray hybridization performed for gene expression analysis. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was used for biological interpretation of microarray data. Real time quantitative PCR was performed on selected genes to confirm the microarray data. Results Compared to untreated controls, the mRNA levels of a total of 737 genes were significantly (p Conclusions Exposure to a clinically relevant radiation dose led to long-term activation of mammary gland genes involved in proliferative and metabolic pathways, which are known to have roles in carcinogenesis. When considered along with downregulation of a number of tumor suppressor genes, our study has implications for breast cancer initiation and progression after therapeutic radiation exposure.