Predicting Leukemia induced by Radiation Therapy

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Model Predicts Risk Of Leukemia Induced By Radiation Therapy

31 Dec 2006

December 20 issue of JNCI

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=59488 & nfid=nl

A new analysis shows that it may be possible to

accurately predict a cancer patient's risk of

developing leukemia as a result of receiving

radiation therapy for a primary tumor.

Understanding these risks may help doctors

optimize radiation treatment to minimize the side

effects of this therapy, the authors say.

Radiotherapy inevitably exposes healthy tissue to

radiation and increases the risk of

radiation-induced cancer, the authors write.

However, it is difficult to predict these risks

because cancer radiotherapy has changed markedly

in recent years, patients are on average younger

than they used to be, and many cancer patients are surviving longer.

In the December 20 issue of JNCI, Igor Shuryak,

M.D., and J. Brenner, Ph.D., D.Sc., of

Columbia University Medical Center in New York,

and colleagues report a biologically based model

for radiation-induced leukemia risk following radiotherapy.

The new model, which extends their recent model

for radiation-induced solid cancers, takes into

account the migration of unique cell types

involved in the development of leukemia. It

calculates leukemia risk based on a patient’s

radiation dose to each of the different bone

marrow regions throughout the body. The authors

conclude that these models may provide new

insights into the mechanisms of radiation-induced cancers.

Contact: A. Streich, Columbia

University Medical Center Office of Communications and External Relations

Visit the Journal online at http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjournals.org/.

Contact: Widener

Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=59488