Second cancers more common in people who receive donor stem cell transplants

Patients who received haematopoietic donor stem cell transplants to treat diseases such as leukaemia or myelodysplastic syndrome have almost double the risk of developing a second cancer in later years, compared with the general population. A study in the journal Cancer has found that the risk was almost four times higher for patients older than 40 years and for men patients receiving transplants from a female donor (2006 Nov 27, doi: 10.1002/cncr.22375).

The study reviewed …