Defining AML and MDS second cancer risk dynamics after diagnoses of first cancers treated or not with radiation

Abstract

Risks of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and/or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are known to increase after cancer treatments. Their rise-and-fall dynamics and their associations with radiation have, however, not been fully characterized. To improve risk definition we developed SEERaBomb R software for Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results second cancer analyses. Resulting high-resolution relative risk (RR) time courses were compared, where possible, to results of A-bomb survivor analyses. We found: (1) persons with prostate cancer receiving radiation therapy have increased RR of AML and MDS that peak in 1.5-2.5 years; (2) persons with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), lung and breast first cancers have the highest RR for AML and MDS over the next 1-12 years. These increased RR are radiation specific for lung and breast cancer but not for NHL; (3) AML latencies were brief compared to those of A-bomb survivors; and (4) there was a marked excess risk of acute promyelocytic leukemia in persons receiving radiation therapy. Knowing the type of first cancer, if it was treated with radiation, the interval from first cancer diagnosis to developing AML or MDS, and the type of AML, can improve estimates of whether AML or MDS cases developing in this setting are due to background versus other processes.