Causes of benign tumors within long term survivors of childhood cancer
April 17, 2019
According to a new study led by Judith Kok, MSc, childhood cancer survivors may face a risk developing subsequent benign tumors after cancer treatment. This team set out determine the incidence and risk-factors for developing tumors later on in life. Benign and cancerous tumors often share similar etiological factors, however, thorough knowledge of a benign tumor’s risk still requires more investigation.
In this study, 5843 Dutch cancer survivors were surveyed at a median follow up of 22.7 post diagnosis. Overall, 9.3% of previously treated individuals indicated that they had developed benign tumors. Of these individuals, those primarily exposed to radiotherapy, experienced the highest incidence of benign growths, at a rate of 16.7%.
From the data collected, researchers were able to determine that childhood cancer survivors experience a 2-fold risk for developing benign tumors later in life when compared with unaffected siblings. Detection of particular diseases such as osteochondroma, uterine leiomyoma as well as nervous system tumors within childhood cancer survivors may help to alter surveillance guidelines for individuals at risk.
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