Second Primary Cancers in Victoria

Emily Karahalios, Dallas English, Vicky Thursfield, Julie Simpson, Helen Farrugia, Graham Giles
Victorian Cancer Registry, Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne August 2009

This monograph has been produced to describe the risk of developing a second primary invasive cancer after the diagnosis of the first.

There are several reasons for looking at this phenomenon.

Patient care. It's of interest to doctors to know the size of the risk, and also the timing and type of, second cancers that are likely to occur so they can inform their patients and provide appropriate follow-up.
Study of cancer causes. People who develop a particular primary cancer may be at increased risk of specific second cancers because of either their constitution (e.g. genetic predisposition), their behaviour (e.g. mammographic screening frequency) or their environmental exposures (e.g. smoking, diet).
Possible increased risk of a second cancer following treatment with radiation or cytotoxic drugs.

This publication presents an analysis for all cancers and for 23 common cancer types in Victoria examining second primary cancers detected during a 23-year period following diagnosis of the first cancer. A 2-page summary describes the important findings for each cancer and detailed tables are provided as Appendices.

We believe that Second Primary Cancers in Victoria is an important reference for those interested in the health of Victorians.

Download entire report: Second Primary Cancers in Victoria (1.3MB)