Jump to full article: Reuters, 2002-08-13
Author: Merritt McKinney
Intro: Women diagnosed with breast cancer have an increased risk of developing lung cancer several years later, the results of a large Swedish study suggest.
Why breast cancer survivors might be more likely to develop lung cancer is uncertain, but the risk could stem from an interaction between the effects of tobacco smoke and the radiation sometimes used to treat breast cancer, suggests a team led by Dr. Michaela Prochazka of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Thanks to improved treatment for breast cancer, more and more women with the disease are becoming long-term survivors, according to the study's senior author, Dr. Per Hall, also of the Karolinska Institute. As a result, Hall told Reuters Health, the long-term health effects of cancer therapy have become "increasingly important."
Several reports have suggested that radiation therapy, which is sometimes used after surgery to remove a breast tumor, increases the risk of lung cancer. . .
Hall noted that another study that included the same group of women showed that women diagnosed with cancer in their left breast had an increased risk of heart attack. Now, the researchers plan to study the possible effects of smoking, as well as diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases, on the risk of lung cancer in women who have had breast cancer.
SOURCE: European Journal of Cancer 2002;38:1520-1525.
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