Two Weeks of Chemo: Day 12

This is part of an ongoing two-week series. For more info, see this introductory post.

One worrying thought that I have had, but on which I try not to dwell, is how having cancer this early in life is an ill omen for developing another type of cancer later. It is well documented that people with Hodgkin's lymphoma have a two to three times greater chance of developing another cancer, compared to the general population. This is generally thought to be because of the mutagenic properties of certain chemo drugs and radiation.

There is, however, a caveat to the research on second cancers; it takes a long time to conduct. For instance, determining the 30 year survival rate for cancer patients takes... 30+ years. By the time your study has finished, it's now irrelevant because the standard therapy has changed so much in the intervening time. The dangerous drugs they used when the most recent studies were conducted are no longer used and radiation is given in much lower doses. So odds are, the survival rates have gotten even better and the second cancer rates have gone way down.

Also, in order to, at such a young age, build up the five to six mutations required to develop cancer, odds are a young patient with cancer is genetically predisposed to develop it. And surviving one bout with cancer doesn't mean you're in the clear of developing another one because treatment for cancer doesn't treat the genetic susceptibility. Given all the cancer in my extended family, I know that likely I have a faulty gene or two.

The nice thing is that there are many new smart drugs in the works that should be able to make cancer much more treatable in the future. Hopefully, if I get another cancer, it will be a cake-walk to treat and I can regale my own patients with stories of how bad it used to be.

Back to Day 11.
Ahead to Day 13.