Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer May Help Identify Survivors at Increased Risk for Future Cancers
Research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital links common skin cancers with almost a 1 in 5 chance adult survivors of childhood cancer will develop another, more serious cancer
MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Childhood cancer
survivors diagnosed later with non-melanoma skin cancer may be at
increased risk for having a malignant tumor within 15 years,
according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
investigators.
Almost 20 percent of survivors in this Childhood Cancer Survivor
Study (CCSS) who were diagnosed with basal or squamous cell skin
cancer developed another more aggressive cancer within 15 years,
said Gregory Armstrong, M.D., assistant member of the St. Jude
Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control. He presented the
results June 7 at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society
of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
"These findings suggest non-melanoma skin cancers are a
potential marker for survivors who are at risk for future invasive
malignancies," Armstrong said.
The study involved 14,358 childhood cancer survivors whose
cancer was diagnosed between 1970 and 1986. All are now
participating in the CCSS, which is funded by the National Cancer
Institute to track the health outcomes of childhood cancer
survivors. Armstrong is project director for CCSS, which includes
investigators at 30 institutions in the U.S. and Canada. St. Jude
is the central coordinating institution. Les Robison, Ph.D., St.
Jude Epidemiology and Cancer Control chair, is the CCSS principal
investigator. He is also this study's senior author.
Childhood cancer survivors are known to be at increased risk for
additional cancers, which remain a leading cause of disability and
death among those who beat cancer the first time. "This study is
the first to track the risk of multiple malignancies in a large
group of aging cancer survivors," Armstrong said. The average
survivor in this study was age 36.
Nearly 10 percent of study participants, or 1,383 survivors,
reported being diagnosed with a second tumor. The group included
231 survivors found to have a third tumor and 153 individuals
diagnosed with four or more. The analysis found that nearly 39
percent of childhood survivors diagnosed with one subsequent tumor
went on to develop another within 15 years.
The study's other authors are Wei Lui, Ph.D., and Deokumar
Srivastava, Ph.D., of St. Jude; Sue Hammond, M.D., Nationwide
Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Smita Bhatia, M.D., City of
Hope, Duarte, CA.; Joseph Neglia, M.D., University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis; Marilyn Stovall, Ph.D., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,
Houston; Wendy Leisenring, Sc.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center, Seattle; and Yutaka Yasui, Ph.D., University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally
recognized for its pioneering research and treatment of children
with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Ranked the No. 1
pediatric cancer hospital by Parents magazine and the No. 1
children's cancer hospital by U.S. News & World Report, St.
Jude is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude
has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world,
serving as a trusted resource for physicians and researchers. St.
Jude has developed research protocols that helped push overall
survival rates for childhood cancer from less than 20 percent when
the hospital opened to almost 80 percent today. St. Jude is the
national coordinating center for the Pediatric Brain Tumor
Consortium and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In addition to
pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is also a leader in sickle cell
disease research and is a globally prominent research center for
influenza.
Founded in 1962 by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude
freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical
communities around the world, publishing more research articles
than any other pediatric cancer research center in the United
States. St. Jude treats more than 5,700 patients each year and is
the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay
for treatment not covered by insurance. St. Jude is financially
supported by thousands of individual donors, organizations and
corporations without which the hospital's work would not be
possible. In 2010, St. Jude was ranked the most trusted charity in
the nation in a public survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a
highly respected international polling and research firm. For more
information, go to www.stjude.org.
Source: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
CONTACT: Summer Freeman, (cell) +1-901-297-9861, (desk)
+1-901-595-3061,
summer.freeman@stjude.org,
or Carrie Strehlau, (cell) +1-901-297-9875, (desk)
+1-901-595-2295, carrie.strehlau@stjude.org,
both of St. Jude Public
Relations
Web Site: http://www.stjude.org/
Posted: June 2010
