Think Pinker

According to the US News those individuals that had Hodgkin’s earlier in life and survived it are at a much higher risk of developing breast cancer later on. It’s believed that as a result of the increased radiation that leads to the development of malignant tumors.

There’s a bit of irony here since Hodgkin’s disease has an almost 100% cure rate when diagnosed early. So we cure patients of their Hodgkin’s only to turn around and have them fighting a battle with breast cancer at a later date.

In fact, children that have been treated and cured of Hodgkins are 37 times more likely to develop breast cancer. The earlier that diagnosis in children the higher the risk. Researchers suspect that it’s a result of the high doses of radiation that the body is not able to cope well with although at this point it is just a theory.

One of the biggest concerns among doctors and researchers is not that the rates of developing breast cancer are much higher in Hodgkins patients although of course that’s a concern too, but rather that the appropriate screening is not put into place and so many women go undiagnosed until it is too late.

In a perfect world anyone who had ever been treated for Hodgkins would have automatically set up on a screening program yearly, which would likely increase early detection significantly. While this would also mean following children throughout their teen and adult years, it would be money well spent. First it could save lives and second it could save significant costs on the treatment of breast cancer. A win for everyone involved.