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Adolescent Girls Treated For Hodgkin’s Disease Using Radiotherapy At High Risk Of Breast Cancer Later

Jan 28, 2014 by TacticularCancer.com

An observational study just published in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International revealed that adolescent girls who were treated for Hodgkin’s disease using radiotherapy were at high risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

The researchers were part of the German Working Group on the Long-Term Sequelae of Hodgkin’s Disease. They looked at data of 590 females who had taken part in the Austrian pediatric treatment trials, which ran from 1978 to 1995. The subjects were followed up for an average period of 17.8 years, up to a maximum of 33 years.

The research team estimated that some 19% of the girls who underwent radiotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s disease developed secondary breast cancer within 30 years because of that treatment.

A recommendation by the authors of the study was for the part(s) of the chest exposed to radiation to be kept as small as medically justifiable when supradiaphragmatic radiotherapy was necessary for girls over 9 years old. This would help minimize the risk of breast cancer later in life.