Cancer survivors are at greater risk of developing and dying from primary cancers afterwards

A new study from the American Cancer Society finds that there is a higher risk of survival and mortality from primary cancer (SPCn) than the general population. Cancers associated with smoking or obesity accounted for the majority of SPC incidence and mortality among all survivors. The study appears in JAMA.

These findings highlight the importance of ongoing vigilance and efforts to prevent new cancers among the remnants. The number of cancer survivors developing new cancers is expected to increase, but, to date, there are complete data on the risk of SPC among cancer survivors starting with cancer. adults have been restricted. “

Hyuna Sung, PhD., Lead author

For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 1.54 million survivors from 1992 to 2017 from 12 Study, Epidemiology, and Final Outcomes records in the United States. The survivors surveyed ranged in age from 20 to 84 (average age, 60.4 years), 48.8% females, and 81.5% white.

The results show that, among the 1,537,101 survivors, 156,442 were diagnosed with SPC and 88,818 died of SPC. The results concluded that surviving men had an 11% higher risk of developing SPCs and a 45% higher risk of dying from SPCs compared to the risk in the general population. Surviving women had a 10% higher risk of developing SPCs and a 33% higher risk of dying from SPCs.

The researchers found that men who survived laryngeal cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma were the highest risk for developing SPC, while men who survived gallbladder cancer were at the highest risk of dying from SPC. Among women, survivors of laryngeal and esophageal cancer had the highest risk of developing SPC, and laryngeal cancer survivors were also the highest risk for SPC mortality.

Associations of specific types of primary cancers differed significantly with specific types of SPC risk. However, study authors note the prevalence of smoking and obesity-related cancers in SPC frequency and mortality. Results show that the risks from smoking-related SPCs were commonly elevated among the survivors of first smoking-related cancers. Among all survivors of all cancers, four common smoking-related SPCs included lung, urinary bladder, oral cavity / pharynx, and esophagus, accounting for 26% to 45% of incidence and mortality total SPC. In addition, lung cancer alone accounted for 31% to 33% of total deaths from SPCn. Similarly, survivors of multiple obesity-related cancers had a higher risk of developing obesity-related SPCs. Among the survivors of all cancers, four common cancers were associated with obesity, pancreas, uterine corpus, and liver, accounting for 22% to 26% of total SPC deaths.

“These findings underline the importance of coordinated efforts by primary care clinicians to mitigate the risks of SPC through survival care, with a greater focus on lifestyle factors, including smoking cessation. , weight management, physical activity, and healthy eating, such as receiving counseling or treatment. (tobacco only) to help adopt healthy habits, “said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, senior author of the paper.