ABSTRACT
The progress of cancer treatments – both in medical and radiation oncology – over the last decades has led to a significant increase in local control and overall survival rates. An obvious consequence is a steep rise in the prevalence of cancer survivors in the general population. A recent report by the National Cancer Institute of the United States estimated that 3.5% of the individuals in the population are cancer survivors. Inevitably, this also increases the frequency of second cancers, as an age-related disease. Second, or even third cancers account for 17% of cancers newly diagnosed and reported to the cancer registries. It goes without saying that patients and physicians are curious about the cause of those new malignancies after cure from an initial malignant disease.
