Between 2009 and 2013, almost 20% of patients newly diagnosed with a primary cancer had been diagnosed with one or more cancers in the past, according to a new study.
These large numbers have implications for cancer screening and survivorship care, given that a prior and current cancer in a given patient may share risk factors, such as human papillomavirus infection or tobacco use, explained Nancy Davidson, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in an editorial that accompanied the paper.
And some types of second primary cancer—such as leukemia—can be related to chemotherapy or radiation therapy used to treat a prior cancer, so clinicians caring for cancer survivors should be aware of these links, wrote the study authors.
The study results also may cause reconsideration of entry criteria for clinical trials, said the study’s lead author, Caitlin Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Traditionally, she explained, many trials exclude patients with a prior cancer.
“But due to advances in treatment, cancer survivors are living longer and have better outcomes, and exclusion criteria for trials haven’t kept up with that progress,” Dr. Murphy added.
Source: NCI
