Are Patients Treated for Breast Cancer at Increased Risk of CML?
Posted: Friday, September 28, 2018
In a recently published article in Current Problems in Cancer, Muneer J. Al-Husseini, MD, of Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, and colleagues revealed the results of their analysis on the development of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in patients who had received a diagnosis of breast cancer. Indeed, localized breast cancer was associated with a significant increase in the risk of CML within 5 years of diagnosis in these patients.
Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, the investigators analyzed the medical records of women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1992 and 2014 for the development of CML after a 6-month latency period from a diagnosis of breast cancer. In total, 474,866 women with breast cancer were followed, and 178 were later diagnosed with CML. Of interest, the investigators noted that radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and the presence of hormonal receptors were associated with a significant increase in the risk of CML in these women. As for outcomes related to patients who developed CML, the median overall survival was 28 months.
“Large clinical trials are needed to determine the exact chemotherapeutic agents, exact doses of radiotherapy, and the role of therapy in inducing chromosomal abnormalities, which may be implicated in the development of CML,” the authors concluded. “Moreover, future studies should investigate the potential benefits of screening and early detection programs on the survival of CML after [breast cancer.].”