Radiation Exposure Raises Likelihood of Second Cancer

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Radiation Exposure Raises Likelihood of Second

Cancerhttp://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.as

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Radiation exposure increases the risk

that cancer survivors will go on to develop another malignancy, finds a new

study.

It

was known that radiation exposure can cause cancer but it wasn't known

whether it increases a person's risk of developing more than one. In

order to find out, American and Japanese researchers analyzed data from

more than 10,000 survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and

Nagasaki who developed primary cancers.

" We found that radiation

exposure increased the risks of first and second cancers to a similar

degree, " study first author Dr. Li, a breast cancer

epidemiologist and a member of the Public Health Sciences Division at

the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said in a center

news release.

" People exposed to radiation who developed cancer

also had a high risk of developing a second cancer, and the risk was

similar for both solid tumors and leukemias in both men and women, " Li

said.

The link between radiation exposure and second cancers was especially strong for

radiation-sensitive cancers such as leukemia and tumors of the lung, colon,

breast, thyroid and bladder.

The study appears in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

" Our

findings suggest that cancer survivors with a history of radiation

exposure should continue to be carefully monitored for second cancers, "

Li said.

He also thanked his Japanese colleagues for their

collaboration. " Through innumerable publications, [they] have

transformed the tragedy of the atomic bombings to fundamental

scientific advancements that have impacted radiation protection

standards and policies worldwide, " Li said.

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