November 2003

Radiation treatment for Hodgkin's increases breast cancer risk

Radiation "therapy" has been criticized for being everything from unpredictable to barbaric. A new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) gives critics even more reason to oppose the procedure.

The study found that young women with Hodgkin's disease (HD) who had been treated with chest radiation have an increased risk of breast cancer. The risk is so great, that it is the leading cause of death in long‑term survivors of HD, with exceptionally high risks of breast cancer among women treated at a young age.

Lois B. Travis, M.D., of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues analyzed the risk of breast cancer among 3,817 women diagnosed with HD at age 30 or younger (between June 1965 and December 1994) and concluded that patients "treated" with a radiation dose of 4 Gy [gray, a measurement of radiation] or more delivered to the breast has a 3.2‑fold increased risk. The risk increased to 8‑fold with a dose of more than 40 Gy. radiation risk. Increased risks persisted for 25 or more years following radiotherapy, the authors noted.

Despite the obvious increased risks, the researchers were reluctant to suggest that radiation therapy be eliminated. Instead, they merely called for "programs of clinician and patient awareness, lifetime surveillance, and possible prevention strategies."

SOURCE: "Breast Cancer Following Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Among Young Women With Hodgkin Disease," The Journal of the American Medical Association, July 23, 2003.