More radiotherapy for radiation-induced second malignancies?

Excerpt

Female patients who received radiotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma (HL) have an increased risk of second malignancies, with breast cancer the most common solid tumor these patients develop [1]. Age at irradiation and time since therapy appears to be the only significant risk factors for development of breast cancer after radiation for HL. For instance, results from a large epidemiological study conducted by NCI investigators from the NCI divisions of Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention predict that, for a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor who was treated at age 25 years during the time period between the years 1965 and 1994 and received a chest radiation dose of at least 40 Gy, the estimated cumulative absolute risks of breast cancer by age 35, 45, and 55 years are 1.4, 11.1 and 29.0%, respectively [2]. …