Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black female survivors of breast cancer experience higher death rates after being diagnosed with a second primary cancer than members of other ethnic and racial groups.

In a new study of nearly 40,000 adult survivors of breast cancer, the risk of death from a second cancer was 12% higher among non-Hispanic Black survivors and 8% higher among Hispanic survivors compared with non-Hispanic white survivors.

Survivors in racial and ethnic minorities were diagnosed with second cancers up to six years younger than non-Hispanic white survivors, and within a shorter time from their first cancer.

Additionally, non-Hispanic Black survivors had a 44% higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death after a second cancer diagnosis than non-Hispanic white survivors.

Nearly half of cancer survivors live for more than 10 years, and approximately one in five people diagnosed with cancer has a prior cancer history, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Therefore, it’s important to determine risk factors associated with second cancers so they can best be prevented, or diagnosed and managed as early as possible, says Kala Visvanathan, director of the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Service at the Kimmel Cancer Center, a member of the Women’s Malignancy Program at Johns Hopkins University, and senior author of the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

There could be many contributing factors to the poor survival observed after a second cancer, including diagnosis of aggressive tumors, cumulative treatment, and type of treatment received, lifestyle factors, and social determinants of health, says Visvanathan, who is also director of the cancer epidemiology track at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Read the full article about second cancers by Amy Mone at Futurity.