Does radiotherapy for breast cancer increase the risk of secondary soft tissue sarcomas in women?
Radiotherapy for breast cancer significantly increases the long-term risk of secondary soft tissue sarcomas, particularly angiosarcoma, highlighting the need for extended surveillance.
BACKGROUND: Radiotherapy (RT) has been a risk factor for development of soft tissue sarcomas (STS). The objective of the current study was to quantify the risk of STS after RT and surgery for breast cancer (BCa), assess time trends, and compare long-term survival of patients with RT-associated and non-RT-associated angiosarcoma (AS) using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. METHODS: Women with BCa reported to SEER in 1973 to 2003 were included. Kaplan-Meier curves and proportional hazards models, reported as hazards ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), were used. Survival of patients who developed RT-associated AS was compared with that of patients with primary AS of the thorax and upper extremities. RESULTS: The cohort of 563,155 BCa patients was divided into 2 groups: those who received RT (37%) and those who received no RT. RT use increased with time (P20 years.
Mery et al. (2009) studied this question.