Researchers Find Tool That Can Predict Risk of Secondary Cancer Development in Pediatric Cancer Survivors
A new study has discovered a tool that can identify cancer survivors who have syndromes that predispose them to cancer and heighten their risk of subsequent cancer development. The research, which was published in the “Journal of Clinical Oncology,” notes that the tool had proven to be effective in patients who hadn’t been exposed to radiation during treatment of their primary malignancies as well as in survivors of central nervous system tumors and solid tumors.
The tool integrates the specific features of tumors as well as the family and clinical history of every patient and feeds them into the tumor-particular algorithm.
The tool, called the McGill Interactive Pediatric OncoGenetic Guideline, can be used to identify children who have a genetic predisposition to cancer by asking physicians different questions whose answers will be used to generate a recommendation either against or for evaluation for an underlying syndrome which predisposes them to cancer.
For their population-based study, the researchers focused on determining whether the tool could be used to forecast which childhood cancer survivors had a higher chance of developing subsequent cancers. The researchers used a cancer registry to identify more than 13,000 childhood cancer survivors who, from 1986 to 2015, had been treated for or diagnosed with a primary cancer before they reached the age of 18. Survivors who developed secondary tumors were matched with survivors who didn’t develop subsequent malignant neoplasms over the same time frame, based on their years of diagnoses and primary cancer.
Of the total study population, the researchers found that about 2.5% of them developed subsequent malignancies. These patients were matched to control patients, with researchers noting that the age at which the control patients and those who developed subsequent malignancies received their first diagnoses was similar, at 7.6 and 7.9 years respectively. The researchers also found that the average age at the time of subsequent cancer development was 18.2 years, with the average follow-up for controls and cases being 16 and 17.1 years respectively.
The tool’s output recommending evaluation in a multivariable model was linked to a heightened risk of subsequent cancer development. The researchers took into account hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the patient’s exposure to radiation and chemotherapy during primary cancer treatment.
In their report, the researchers noted that using the McGill Interactive Pediatric OncoGenetic Guidelines tool in childhood cancer survivors to predict the risk of cancer predisposition syndrome had additional value for forecasting subsequent cancers. They recommend that the tool be incorporated into the assessment of child oncology patients at diagnosis.
The good news for those who are found to have a high chance of developing additional malignancies later in life is that some companies, including CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP), are seeking to develop more efficacious medicines for different kinds of cancer, thereby giving patients better clinical outcomes.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
A new study has discovered a tool that can identify cancer survivors who have syndromes that predispose them to cancer and heighten their risk of subsequent cancer development. The research, which was published in the “Journal of Clinical Oncology,” notes that the tool had proven to be effective in patients who hadn’t been exposed to radiation during treatment of their primary malignancies as well as in survivors of central nervous system tumors and solid tumors.
The tool integrates the specific features of tumors as well as the family and clinical history of every patient and feeds them into the tumor-particular algorithm.
The tool, called the McGill Interactive Pediatric OncoGenetic Guideline, can be used to identify children who have a genetic predisposition to cancer by asking physicians different questions whose answers will be used to generate a recommendation either against or for evaluation for an underlying syndrome which predisposes them to cancer.
For their population-based study, the researchers focused on determining whether the tool could be used to forecast which childhood cancer survivors had a higher chance of developing subsequent cancers. The researchers used a cancer registry to identify more than 13,000 childhood cancer survivors who, from 1986 to 2015, had been treated for or diagnosed with a primary cancer before they reached the age of 18. Survivors who developed secondary tumors were matched with survivors who didn’t develop subsequent malignant neoplasms over the same time frame, based on their years of diagnoses and primary cancer.
Of the total study population, the researchers found that about 2.5% of them developed subsequent malignancies. These patients were matched to control patients, with researchers noting that the age at which the control patients and those who developed subsequent malignancies received their first diagnoses was similar, at 7.6 and 7.9 years respectively. The researchers also found that the average age at the time of subsequent cancer development was 18.2 years, with the average follow-up for controls and cases being 16 and 17.1 years respectively.
The tool’s output recommending evaluation in a multivariable model was linked to a heightened risk of subsequent cancer development. The researchers took into account hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the patient’s exposure to radiation and chemotherapy during primary cancer treatment.
In their report, the researchers noted that using the McGill Interactive Pediatric OncoGenetic Guidelines tool in childhood cancer survivors to predict the risk of cancer predisposition syndrome had additional value for forecasting subsequent cancers. They recommend that the tool be incorporated into the assessment of child oncology patients at diagnosis.
The good news for those who are found to have a high chance of developing additional malignancies later in life is that some companies, including CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP), are seeking to develop more efficacious medicines for different kinds of cancer, thereby giving patients better clinical outcomes.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
