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if you have a family history of bc--you may be at higher risk of developing a second
cancer after breast cancer. This may be attributable to an inherited predisposition to DNA damage from chemo- and radiation-therapy (unclear in what percentage of cases--my input here!).
This makes it all the more important the research into targetted therapies moves forward--it may not only allow less chemo to be given, but also may cut down on the need for radiation therapy
THEY ARE making progress in discovering pre-treatment, which patients might have the most adverse effects from radiation therapy, but the test
seems either not yet to be ready for a large clinical trial, or they can't figure out who will pay for the trial and who might make money from having the test done ie, which insurance companies would pay for something which might prevent problems in a minority of those treated.
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2007 Sep 27; [Epub ahead of print]
Modification of risk for subsequent cancer after female breast cancer by a family history of breast cancer.
Hemminki K, Zhang H, Sundquist J, Lorenzo Bermejo J.
Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
An increased risk of second primary cancers may depend on many reasons, including therapy for the first cancer and heritable causation. Population level data are not available exploring the risks of subsequent cancers after breast cancer considering a familial history of breast cancers. We used the nation-wide Swedish Family-Cancer Database to investigate such risks, based on 43,398 first invasive female breast cancers. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for the second cancer after breast cancer using rates for first cancer as a reference. Many cancers at discordant sites were increased after breast cancer. SIRs for subsequent neoplasms in women who had a family history of breast cancer were increased for ovarian (2.0) and endometrial (1.8) cancers and for acute lymphoid leukemia (12.7) and myelofibrosis (9.4). The data suggest that the familial aggregation of breast and endometrial cancers may be explained by yet unidentified heritable causes. The remarkably high risks for second acute lymphoid leukemia and myelofibrosis, both characterized by chromosomal aberrations, in women with a family history of breast cancer may signal heritable defects in the ability to process DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation and chemotherapy.
PMID: 17899363 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
I am sure MaduBois could provide some input here from first-hand experience, although I am uncertain if she had a family history of bc which might have led her to be at an increased risk.
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