Risk of Leukemia after Chemotherapy or Radiation Therapy for Early-Stage Breast Cancer higher than thought

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.
Radiation therapy uses a special kind of high-energy beam to damage cancer cells. Over time, radiation damages cells that are in the path of its beam,normal cells as well as cancer cells. But cancer cells are more affected by radiation than normal cells because they’re less organized. Normal cells are better able to repair themselves and survive the treatment.
Both radiation therapy and chemotherapy can be given after breast cancer surgery to lower the risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence). Treatments given after surgery are called adjuvant treatments.
"Bone marrow neoplasms" are the general medical term for all types of leukemia, which is cancer of the bone marrow.
In the study, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center looked at information from more than 20,000 women who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer at eight U.S. cancer centers between 1998 and 2007.
Of the women in the study, 50 developed some type of leukemia in the 10 years after radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or both treatments. This means the women had about a 0.5% risk of developing leukemia.
In earlier studies, which included only a few hundred women, the risk of developing leukemia after radiation and/or chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer was 0.25%.
It’s very important to know that the rate of leukemia after breast cancer treatment is very small. Still, many doctors think that women are only at risk in the first few years after treatment. This study suggests that the risk continues through 10 years after treatment and is higher than what was thought.
Because of treatments they’ve received, many breast cancer survivors have a higher risk of developing other diseases as they age, including other cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and osteoporosis. To make sure breast cancer survivors are regularly screened for these and other diseases they may be at higher risk for, experts have developed the idea of survivorship care planning. If you’ve been treated for early-stage breast cancer, it’s very important that you regularly see a doctor (or doctors) who are familiar with your medical history and understand your special risks.