Originally published October 10 2005
New information suggests Hodgkin's survivors are at greater risk for breast cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Lois B. Travis, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, led this study that found the chest radiation used to treat women with Hodgkin's disease can increase their chances of developing breast cancer by as much as 40 percent.
Due to the chest radiation that is often given for treatment, women who survive Hodgkin's disease are at heightened risk for breast cancer.
The authors warn, however, that the findings are based on older treatment approaches and, therefore, may not be applicable to women treated today for Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer that affects the lymph nodes and organs involved in the body's immune system.
"This study is the first, to our knowledge, to estimate the cumulative absolute risk of breast cancer among women treated for Hodgkin's disease at age 30 years or younger using detailed information on radiation and chemotherapy," lead author Dr. Lois B. Travis, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, told Reuters Health.
The findings, which appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, are based on a study of 3,817 young women who survived at least 1 year after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease between 1965 and 1994.
The risk of breast cancer increased as age at diagnosis, radiation dose, and duration of follow-up increased.
The risks ranged from 0 percent for a patient diagnosed at 15 years of age, treated with a limited dose of radiation, and followed for 10 years to 40 percent for someone diagnosed at 30 years of age, treated with a large dose of radiation, and followed for 30 years.
"Our results provide Hodgkin's patients with an estimate of absolute breast cancer risk, particularly for those treated with wide-field chest radiotherapy that was commonly used from 1965 to 1994," Travis said.
The findings "should be used with caution in patients treated with more recent approaches."
Travis said her group "is now updating the follow-up of 40,000 Hodgkin's survivors reported to international...cancer registries" to examine the risk of other cancers in this group.
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