MEMPHIS, March 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found that adults treated for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia are at increased risk for developing new tumors in the next 30 years.
Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital said those treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common cancer in children and adolescents, had an increased risk for developing a secondary neoplasm -- or new tumors that develop after successful treatment of initial cancer.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, explained previous studies found a relatively low incidence of secondary neoplasm during the first 10 to 15 years after treatment.
"On the contrary, our longer study shows that after 20 years the incidence continues to increase," study corresponding author Dr. Nobuko Hijiya of the St. Jude oncology department said in a statement.
