Study: High Radiation for Hodgkin's Ups Breast Cancer Risk

Women under the age of 30 with Hodgkin's disease who receive high doses of radiation to the chest have a much higher risk of subsequently developing breast cancer than women who receive lower radiation doses, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study involving 3,817 women aged 30 and younger found that the breast cancer risk was eight times higher among women exposed to the highest levels of radiation, with the higher the dose, the greater the risk.

The risk also persisted years after treatment, with the high-dose group still more than twice as likely to develop breast cancer than the low-dose group 25 years later, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute.

The benefits of radiation treatment for Hodgkin's disease -- a relatively rare form of cancer that affects the lymphatic system -- far outweigh the risks, the researchers said.

But the evidence "supports the notion that 'lower is better' as long as the radiation dose used augments the cure rate for Hodgkin's disease", wrote Dr. Joachim Yahalom of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in an accompanying editorial.

"The pendulum of therapy for Hodgkin's disease that has swung from wide-field, full-dose radiation alone to full-dose chemotherapy and no radiation is likely to settle in the middle, providing a safer cure for Hodgkin's disease by using brief chemotherapy and reduced radiation," Yahalom said.

Other Sources: Journal of the American Medical Association