NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women with breast cancer who undergo chemotherapy have a small but significant increased risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia (AML), new research shows.
The findings stem from an analysis of data for women diagnosed with breast cancer from 1992 to 2002 and entered in a Medicare-linked database.
The study focused on the treatments received by women with or without a diagnosis of AML, senior author Dr. Sharon H. Giordano and colleagues, from the University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, note in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Of the 64,715 women included in the study, 10,130 had received chemotherapy in addition to other surgery and 54,585 had not. Patients ranged in age from 66 to 104 years and the average follow-up period was 54.8 months.
Women treated with chemotherapy had a 1.8 percent chance of developing AML at 10 years. The risk in other patients was significantly lower -- 1.2 percent. After accounting for other factors, the difference translated into a relative increase in risk of 53 percent for AML associated with chemotherapy.
"Decisions regarding adjuvant chemotherapy in older women must incorporate both short- and long-term risks of chemotherapy as well as potential benefits, so that patients can make informed decisions," Giordano and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, September 1, 2007.
Chemotherapy affects normal, healthy cells as well as breast cancer cells. This is why chemotherapy can cause hair loss, anemia, and diarrhea. In rare cases, exposing normal cells to cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause a new, different type of cancer to develop many years after treatment.
The large study reviewed here found that women who received chemotherapy for breast cancer were more likely to develop a specific type of leukemia called acute myeloid leukemia (AML) within 10 years of treatment than women who didn't get chemo for breast cancer.
It's VERY IMPORTANT to know that while the risk for AML was higher for women who got chemotherapy, the risk of AML is still very small. Women who got chemotherapy for breast cancer had a 1.8% risk of developing AML within 10 years of treatment. Women who didn't get chemotherapy had a 1.2% risk.
If you've had cancer treatment, it's very important that you regularly see a doctor who is familiar with your medical history and understands your special risks, and also gives you counseling, monitoring, and screening for possible complications from earlier treatment.
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