Breast cancer after radiotherapy: Risk factors and suggestion for breast delineation as an organ at risk in the prepuberal girl

Patients who survive a cancer occurring during childhood or young adulthood, treated with radiation, are at a very high risk of chronic sequelae and secondary tumours. To reduce this radioinduced morbidity and mortality, efforts are put on reducing the burden of the treatments and a long-term monitoring of these patients is progressively organized. We present a general review of the literature about the risk factors for developing a secondary breast cancer, which is the most frequent secondary tumour in this population. We suggest that contouring the prepubescent breast as an organ at risk may help predict the risk and reduce the dose to the breasts using modern radiotherapy techniques.