Incidence, Mortality of Subsequent Primary Cancers Up for AYA Survivors

FRIDAY, May 6, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors have increased incidence and mortality of subsequent primary cancers (SPCs), according to a study published online May 4 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Hyuna Sung, Ph.D., from the American Cancer Society in Kennesaw, Georgia, and colleagues compared cancer incidence and mortality among 170,404 five-years-or-more cancer survivors aged 15 to 39 years at first primary cancer diagnosis during 1975 to 2013 to those in the general population.

The researchers found that 13,420 SPC cases and 5,008 SPC deaths occurred among survivors, excluding the same site as the index cancer, during a mean follow-up of 14.6 years, corresponding to 25 and 84 percent higher incidence and mortality, respectively, than that of the general population. Significantly higher overall SPC risk was seen for 20 of 29 index cancers for incidence and for 26 cancers for mortality; female Hodgkin lymphoma survivors had the highest standardized incidence ratio (3.05) and small intestine cancer survivors had the highest standardized mortality ratio (6.97). SPCs of the female breast, lung, and colorectum combined accounted for 36 percent of all SPC cases and 39 percent of all SPC deaths, with lung cancer alone accounting for 11 and 24 percent, respectively.

"These results strongly stress the need to expand research on and strengthen efforts for surveillance of subsequent cancers among childhood and AYA cancer survivors, as well as develop age-specific, exposure-based, and risk-stratified prevention strategies in this growing population of survivors," Sung said in a statement.

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