The risk is low, but a doctor should be consulted.

The standard treatment for localized prostate cancer (cancer confined to the prostate) is radiation to kill or shrink the tumor. The long-term results for most men treated in this way are excellent. It comes with risks.

A second cancer is defined by whether it meets certain criteria.

• Different from the cancer the patient was originally treated for
• they occur within the irradiated area
• they didn’t exist before radiation therapy started
• They appear at least 4 years after treatment is completed.

Historical evidence indicates that secondary cancers occur infrequently. Now, a large study of men treated with the current radiation methods used in modern times has updated this conclusion.

Research data and findings

Investigators reviewed data from 143,886 men who were treated for localized prostate cancer at VA medical facilities between 2000 and 2015. The men’s ages ranged from He’s 60 to He’s 71 and were of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Of these, 52,886 underwent radiation therapy within a year of his diagnosis. His remaining 91,000 men chose to undergo cancer monitoring and treatment only if they had surgery over a similar period of time or had routine check-ups showing signs of progression.

After a median follow-up of 9 years, 3% of men who received radiotherapy developed a second cancer, compared with 2.5% of men who chose other options. His four most common cancers, in order of frequency of detection, were bladder cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and rectal cancer. The risk of developing these second cancers increased steadily over time, peaking 5–6 years after he finished radiation therapy.

Dr. Oliver Sarter, an oncologist at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, who was not involved in the study, said the possibility of a second cancer is important for men to discuss with their doctors when evaluating treatment options. said to be a serious problem.

Weighing risk

Unfortunately, doctors are limited in their ability to predict which men undergoing radiation therapy will be at highest risk of second cancers. “Men who smoke during radiation therapy have another reason to quit,” says Dr. Sartor, because smoking is a major risk for bladder cancer. Men with a genetic risk of Lynch syndrome (a type of colorectal cancer) are also at increased risk from radiation. These men carry genetic mutations that make it difficult for cells to repair DNA damage.

Noting that Dr. Sartor makes good workable points, Dr. Marc Garnick, Gorman Brothers Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and editor of Harvard Health Publishing, said: annual report on prostate disease, Patients considering radiation therapy are exposed to a small but real life-time risk of secondary cancers, particularly those of the rectum and bladder, that may appear years after the completion of radiation therapy. I agree that I should be informed of

Garnick says he is reluctant to consider radiation in men who have a history of inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis, and who are also at increased risk of developing abdominal cancer. He also advises older men who have undergone radiation treatment for prostate cancer to consult their doctor before discontinuing routine colorectal screening.