A recent population-based study in Japan has highlighted a gradual increase in therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (tAML) rates, particularly following breast cancer treatment. Published in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal, the research indicates that certain cancer therapies may elevate the risk of developing blood-related cancers later on. tAML, an aggressive blood and bone marrow cancer, typically emerges after prior chemotherapy or radiation for an initial cancer, potentially due to DNA damage from these treatments.
Lead author Kenji Kishimoto from the Osaka International Cancer Institute emphasized the significance of the study in enhancing our comprehension of the evolving nature of tAML amidst a growing population of cancer survivors. By examining data from the Osaka Cancer Registry covering AML patients in Japan from 1990 to 2020, researchers found that out of 9,841 AML patients, 636 (6.5%) had tAML. The incidence of tAML rose from 0.13 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 0.36 per 100,000 population in 2020, nearly doubling the proportion of tAML cases within overall AML cases.
The study revealed that the most common primary cancer preceding tAML was another type of blood cancer (23.1%), followed by breast cancer (14.6%), colorectal cancer (11.5%), and gastric cancer (8.7%). Over time, there was a notable shift in the distribution of primary cancers, with a significant increase in breast cancer cases and a decline in gastric cancer instances.
