A new study highlighted survivors of breast cancer are at significantly higher risk of developing a second cancer.
The University of Cambridge researchers team analysed data from over 580,000 females and over 3,500 male breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 1995 and 2019.
Isaac Allen, the first author of the research published in Lancet Regional Health, said, “The female and male breast cancer survivors whose data we studied were at increased risk of a number of second cancers. Knowing this can help inform conversations with their care teams to look out for signs of potential new cancers.”
The researchers found females who survived breast cancer are at double the risk of contralateral breast cancer as compared to the general population.
Breast cancer survivor women have 87% greater risk of endometrial cancer, 585 myeloid leukaemia and 25% risk of ovarian cancer.
Moreover, the age of diagnosis also plays a vital role too, females diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50 were at 86% higher risk than the general population of the same age, while the increased risk after 50 is 17%.
Allen noted, “This is further evidence of the health inequalities that people from more deprived backgrounds experience. We need to fully understand why they are at greater risk of second cancers so that we can intervene and reduce this risk.”
Additionally, the senior cancer intelligence manager of Cancer Research UK, Katrina Brown, said, “This study shows us that the risk of second primary cancers is higher in people who have had breast cancer, and this can differ depending on someone’s socioeconomic background.”
Brown urged that “More research is needed to understand what is driving this difference and how to tackle these health inequalities.”
