News Finding: But when researchers looked at patients who received external beam radiation therapy, they found these patients were estimated to be 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a rectal cancer and 40 percent more likely for bladder cancer than the general public.
Paper Finding: There were no cancers for which the relative risk estimates among white men with prostate cancer were higher than those for black men with prostate cancer.
News Context: As a whole, men diagnosed with prostate cancer were at a lower risk of developing a second cancer. But when researchers looked at patients who received external beam radiation therapy, they found these patients were estimated to be 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a rectal cancer and 40 percent more likely for bladder cancer than the general public. Radiation therapy is a standard treatment for prostate cancer and the researchers stress that their findings should not prohibit anyone from choosing this treatment, in particular men who are not good candidates for surgery.
Paper Context: It is noteworthy that there was a reversal in the direction of the SIRs for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and colon cancer, in which black men with prostate cancer had significant increase in the risk for both cancers (SIR 5 1.27 and SIR 5 1.10, respectively) compared with the general population, whereas white men with prostate cancer had a significantly reduced risk (SIR 5 0.87 and SIR 5 0.88, respectively). There were no cancers for which the relative risk estimates among white men with prostate cancer were higher than those for black men with prostate cancer. Compared with men who did not receive radiation, men who received EBRT were significantly more likely than the general population to be diagnosed with rectal cancer (SIR radiation 5 1.70 vs SIR noradiation 5 0.74; P < .0001) and bladder cancer (SIR radiation 5 1.42 vs SIR noradiation 5 0.76; P < .0001).