Adolescent Lymphoma Survivors More Likely to Experience Subsequent Cancers

These findings were all shared at the exposition but have not yet been published, because the rest of the study is still in progress. Dr. Armenian and his colleagues have further plans for this data before they will publish all of the results.

They are planning on looking further at any potential link between different treatment methods and the risk of developing SMNs. The amount of chemotherapy, instead of just chemotherapy types, is also being investigated to see if greater doses have an effect on later developing SMNs.

More standard risk factors, such as obesity, environment exposure, and other lifestyle factors may also affect the chances of a cancer survivor developing an SMN. The researchers are looking into it.

The last factor they want to cover is the genetic factor, to see if there is a genetic predisposition for developing SMNs. Putting all of these factors together to be able to determine a cancer survivor’s risk of developing secondary cancer is the end goal. According to Dr. Armenian, this “...could have implications for testing, counseling, and screening, with the ultimate goal of developing a personalized screening and surveillance regimen.”