Estimating long-term health risks after breast cancer radiotherapy: merging evidence from low and high doses.

ABSTRACT: In breast cancer radiotherapy, substantial radiation exposure of organs other than the treated breast cannot be avoided, potentially inducing second primary cancer or heart disease. While distant organs and large parts of nearby ones receive doses in the mGy-Gy range, small parts of the heart, lung and bone marrow often receive doses as high as 50 Gy. Contemporary treatment planning allows for considerable flexibility in the distribution of this exposure. To optimise treatment with regards to long-term health risks, evidence-based risk estimates are required for the entire broad range of exposures. Here, we thus propose an approach that combines data from medical and epidemiological studies with different exposure conditions. Approximating cancer induction as a local process, we estimate o

SUBMITTER: Simonetto C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8310522 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature