Second primary cancers after radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is involved in the treatment of more than half of all cancer patients, reflecting the reality that cancer radiotherapy is highly effective. However, attention is now swinging to the treatment-related toxicities borne by the cancer survivors. One of these late effects is the occurrence of second primary cancers. The number of patients with multiple primary cancers is growing and accounts for about 16 % (or one in six) of all incident cancers reported to the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program. Although there are other causes, many of these second primary malignancies are treatment-related, especially in pediatric and young adult cancer survivors, with a considerable portion contributed by radiotherapy