Cancer mortality after radiotherapy for a skin hemangioma during childhood

Background and purpose A cohort study was performed as part of a European Radiation Protection Program to investigate the carcinogenic effect of treatment with ionizing radiation in early childhood. This paper presents mortality after radiotherapy in this cohort. Patients and methods The cohort comprised 7037 patients under 15 years of age treated for a skin hemangioma between 1940 and 1973 at the Institut Gustave-Roussy, among whom 4940 received radiotherapy. The vital status and causes of death were obtained as well as the mortality rates in the general French population. External and internal analyses were performed. Standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and relative risk (RR) variations according to exposure to radiotherapy or not and the type of treatment were studied. Results During the 1969-1997 follow-up period, 16 cohort patients died of cancer, 14 after radiotherapy. A non-significant excess of cancer-related mortality was observed for irradiated patients as compared to the general population (SMR=1.53; 95% CI=0.86-2.48). Treatment with ²²⁶Ra seemed to play a significant role (RR=2.53; 95% CI=0.84-7.07) compared to no radiotherapy. Conclusion This study suggests an excess risk of cancer-related mortality in patients treated during early childhood with radiotherapy for skin hemangioma, and especially with ²²⁶Ra. These patients need to be followed up in the future.