Patients with leukemia and other blood diseases who receive bone marrow transplants rich in stem cells, often saving their lives, may be more likely to develop cancer years later, a study says.
Canadian scientists say hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients face a significant long-term risk of developing a second cancer. Researchers followed the progress of over 900 patients who received the transplants and found they had nearly twice (2.3 % to be exact) the risk of developing cancer in the next 10 years. And that risk says Drs. Genevieve Gallagher and Donna Forrest of the University of British Columbia is greater if the recipients were older at the time of transplant or received stem cells especially from a female donor.
The cells from female donors, many of whom have had children, might differ somehow, lead scientist Donna Forrest said, adding their pregnancies might have made their cells more likely to be disruptive when transplanted into recipients.
“This observation has not been reported previously in the literature, and its explanation is uncertain,” the researchers wrote. “Extended follow-up will be needed to assess more fully the incidence and risk factors for the development of solid cancers, because the latency can be prolonged.”
They had no explanation for why patients getting bone marrow from female donors seemed to have a higher risk of developing a second cancer, a trend that had not been seen in previous research.
More research is needed to better assess the factors that contribute to the increased risk these patients seem to face, said the authors.
The study is detailed online in the journal Cancer and will be published in the Journal’s January’1 print edition.
