Cancer
Patients who have recovered from cancer are at a greater risk of suffering a second unrelated cancer than the rest of the population.
Addressing delegates at the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Robert Rubens of the Assurance Medical Society, revealed that in addition to second cancers, fully recovered cancer patients were also at greater risk of cardiac, neuropathy and nephropathy problems due to the anti-cancer treatments they had received.
"In particular, there is a higher risk of heart problems in adults who had a malignant tumour as children," said Rubens.
Rubens looked specifically at Hodgkin's disease and revealed that survivors ran "a 70-fold increase in the risk of developing acute lymphocytic leukaemia." Over 10 years this risk drops dramatically, but the risk of developing other carcinomas, such as lung and breast cancers, increases. The relative risk of developing any cancer after 10 years is almost five times greater for a Hodgkin's survivor than someone who has never suffered the disease.
Rubens urged insurers to look carefully at applicants' cancer histories and consider the possibilities of a second malignancy and the long-term effects of anti-cancer treatments. "Cancer mortality is decreasing and terms are becoming more favourable for cancer survivors looking for life cover," said Rubens.
