Breast Cancer Occurring after Childhood Total Body Irradiation as Conditioning for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Michael A. Savin

Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, USA

^*Correspondance to: Michael A. Savin 

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Abstract:

Exposure to ionizing radiation during childhood and adolescence is well known to increase the risk of later malignancy, including leukemia and a variety of solid cancers. Radiation to the chest or mediastinum during treatment of Hodgkin Lymphoma or metastatic solid cancers in young females is well known to cause a substantial increased risk of later breast cancer. Less well known is the risk of breast cancer arising after Total Body Irradiation (TBI) in this age group as part of conditioning for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). This report presents a young woman who developed high-grade invasive breast cancer at age 27, sixteen years after childhood treatment for relapsed acute leukemia with TBI conditioned allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Female patients treated in childhood with TBI conditioning for HSCT should be educated about their breast cancer risk, and should have regular surveillance for breast cancer beginning at a much younger age than the general population. The recent finding of two possible genomic variants associated with increased breast cancer risk after childhood radiation may offer a future tool to identify patients who need particularly close surveillance.

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Cite the Article:

Savin MA. Breast Cancer Occurring after Childhood Total Body Irradiation as Conditioning for Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation: Case Report and Review of the Literature. Clin Oncol. 2016; 1: 1134.