Research led by the Centre for Childhood Cancer Survivor Studies at the University of Birmingham has identified the specific types of subsequent primary neoplasms that are seen in survivors of 16 adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers.
The findings come from the Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Survivor Study, a population-based cohort of 200,945 survivors of cancer diagnosed when aged 15-39 years in England and Wales from 1 January 1971 to 31 December 2006.
The study, published in the Lancet Oncology, focussed on the risk for specific subsequent primary neoplasms after 16 types of AYA cancer: breast; cervical; testicular; Hodgkin lymphoma (female); Hodgkin lymphoma (male); melanoma; CNS (intracranial); colorectal; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; thyroid; soft-tissue sarcoma; ovarian; bladder; other female genital; leukaemia; and head and neck cancer.
During median follow-up of 16.8 years, 12,321 subsequent primary neoplasms were diagnosed in 11,565 survivors. Subsequent primary neoplasms were most frequently diagnosed among survivors of breast cancer, cervical cancer, testicular cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.
Absolute excess risks for any subsequent primary neoplasms were 19.5 per 10,000 person-years in survivors of breast cancer; 10.2 in survivors of cervical cancer; 18.9 in survivors of testicular cancer; 55.7 in female survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma and 29.9 in male survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma.
Lung cancer accounted for a notable proportion of the excess number of neoplasms across all AYA groups investigated.
The authors say the findings provide an evidence base to inform priorities for clinical long-term follow-up in AYA cancer survivors.
“The prominence of lung cancer after each of these AYA cancers indicates the need for further work aimed at preventing and reducing the burden of this cancer in future survivors of AYA cancer,” they add.
