Radiation-induced second cancers in prostate cancer patients

Radiotherapy is a commonly used, potentially curative treatment modality in patients with localised and locally advanced prostate cancer. The development of a radiation-induced second primary cancer is a serious long-term side effect of radiotherapy treatment. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in males in the UK, with a lifetime risk of one in eight. Since the advent of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing, patients are diagnosed at an earlier stage in their disease and patients are surviving for longer following the diagnosis. The risk of radiation-induced second cancer is therefore particularly relevant for this group of patients.

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