Secondary Cancer

[tarzantass]

What’s the percentage like for getting secondary cancer after the initial radiation? Is it a myth or truth about getting secondary cancer from the first radiation? Your feedback is much appreciated.

[FormulaRob]

All I know is that my fathers oncologist told him that radiation can cause secondary cancer such as bladder cancer and rectal. He did not mention the likelihood of this so that I am unsure about. Hoping the fact that you need practically a full bladder to get this prostate radiated will be enough to prevent a secondary cancer since it keeps the organs spread out further and out of the radiation zone

That’s scary but just gotta keep focused on the initial battle. Cant stop or change what’s next or worry about something that may never happen.

[Tall_Allen]

Not at all a concern for bone metastases.

[Jojoteacher in reply to Tall_Allen]

Even with radiation to prostate?

[Tall_Allen in reply to Jojoteacher]

My reply was about radiation to bone mets, which is the OP's concern.

For prostate, no one really knows, but it is very small:

prostatecancer.news/2016/08...

It may be especially non-existent after prostate SBRT:

thegreenjournal.com/article...

[tarzantass in reply to Tall_Allen]

Thanks Tall Allen.

[treedown]

My RO said 1 in 1000 in 20 years. Just the messenger on this one.

[Darryl Partner]

Can I Get Bladder Cancer After Prostate Cancer?

youtu.be/mylWrpw5_2E(Not working as expected?)

[tarzantass in reply to Darryl]

Thanks, Darryl

[Justfor_]

Radiation is a slow killer. We know it since Hiroshima and more recently Tsernobil. The probability of a second cancer goes up with the years post irradiation. Two papers that I have run across quantify it, at 10 or 15 and 20 years down the road, as somewhere between 10 and 15%. I have provided the links in the past. If interested, use search to spot them.

[SilverSeppi in reply to Justfor_]

TWENTY years down the road I won't be worried much about anything 'secondary'

[maley2711 in reply to Justfor_]

I have looked at papers on this topic....have seen nothing like 10-15% secondary cancers.....perhaps you mean increased risk of other cancers. or 10-15% increased risk of specific types of cancers? Especially a small concern for us old guys!!

[Justfor_ in reply to maley2711]

In both papers I posted in the past the type of the second cancer wasn't specified.

[SilverSeppi]

Not a concern if the radiation treatments are done correctly by a competent radiation oncologist

[tarzantass in reply to SilverSeppi]

Thanks, Silver

[maley2711]

as someone else here suggested, we need to be careful with results of past studies of this association, as the tech has rapidly evolved in last 10-15 years, and some current long-term results are based on patients who were treated with old tech RT.

[tarzantass in reply to maley2711]

Thanks Maley

[pakb in reply to maley2711]

So true for a lot of Pca stats- with so many newer treatments also changing so much in the last 5-10 years.

[NecessarilySo]

I have had colon cancer, i.e. cancerous and precancerous polyps in colon, removed during colonoscopy. Whether they are results of radiation to prostate in 2008 is anyone's guess.

[Bethpage]

My husband was diagnosed with CLL secondary to salvage radiation in 2020. It's rare. I guess he's rare. Labs were perfect the week RT started in June 2019. By January of 2020, he was diagnosed with extremely aggressive CLL. It's the conclusion of two CLL specialists. Not fun.

[LiveLongAndPropser]

I was also concerned about this since I'm in my early 50s and hoping to make it well past 70. My rad onc doc pointed out that if a secondary cancer does occur, it may be completely unrelated to the radiation, it could be coincidence - not to say there is no risk or correlation. All medical procedures come with risk. It is a matter of what outcomes and quality of life you are looking for. For me, after reading posts from others with my similar situation, as well as from my oncologists and the research info they shared, I have chosen to do radiation for quality of life, but I know everyone has their own path, and you've got to choose what path makes you feel comfortable on the path to a cure. I would only share that my comfort increased by getting info from reputable sources and when in doubt, ask where someone got their data. Regardless of the choice you make, I know you'll get the support you need here 🙂.

[SpencerBoy11]

I am sure that my radiation treatments cause my Myelodysplastic Syndromes-MDS. It is a rare disease which can morph into Acute Myloid Leukemia in a third of the cases. MDS for those with it is usually referred to a cancer of the bone marrow. I am sure in my mind that many cases go undiagnosed as the symptoms are the same for many thing including SE of PCa including ADT SE which masked my MDS for 2 yrs.

[dentaltwin]

The problem with this formulation is that you can determine a relative risk for a population; that doesn't mean you can point to another cancer and say, "that was the radiotherapy". Most of these radiation-associated cancers have a pretty long latency, so you're not going to see it over a year or two. And yes, the tech has improved, which should very much cut down on exposure to radiosensitive organs outside the primary field.

This article was on STAT just yesterday. But news of the end of radiotherapy has been exaggerated.

statnews.com/2023/08/15/can...

[j-o-h-n]

Do Melanomas count?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 08/16/2023 8:03 PM DST

[MrG68]

How could one tell? I don't think you can really.Thing is though, I think the real thing to consider is: does this treatment, as far as you know, offer the best treatment option for your current cancer? If it does, then surely this should be your primary choice.

For me personally, If secondary cancer is 'possible' from a treatment, it might never happen. However, if I definitely already have PCa, that is already certain, and I would want to consider the best option for that.

Hopefully that makes sense.

[tarzantass in reply to MrG68]

Thanks MrG68