Women who have been treated for cancer as a child with a certain type of chemotherapy have an increased risk of breast cancer, according to a large-scale international study of survivors of childhood cancer led by scientists from the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology. The results are published today (Monday) in the leading journal Nature Medicine and point to the need for earlier breast cancer screening in women who have previously been treated with this chemotherapy and radiation for childhood cancer.
Adults who had survived childhood cancer faced a higher risk of a first fracture, suggesting the need for bone mineral density surveillance in high-risk childhood cancer survivors.