CIENCIASMEDICASNEWS: Family history of cancer and the risk of cancer: a network of case

lunes, 29 de julio de 2013

Family history of cancer and the risk of cancer: a network of case–control studies

+ Author Affiliations

¹Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS – Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan
²Department of Medical Statistics, Biometry and Bioinformatics, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan
³Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
⁴International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon Cedex, France
⁵Unit of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, IRCCS, Aviano
⁶Department of Epidemiology, ‘Fondazione G. Pascale’, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Naples, Italy
⁷Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

↵*Correspondence to: Dr Eva Negri, Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19 - 20156 Milan, Italy. Tel: +39-02-3901-4525; Fax: +39-02-3320-0231; E-mail: eva.negri@marionegri.it

Received April 17, 2013.
Revision received June 14, 2013.
Accepted June 17, 2013.

Abstract

Background The risk of many cancers is higher in subjects with a family history (FH) of cancer at a concordant site. However, few studies investigated FH of cancer at discordant sites.

Patients and methods This study is based on a network of Italian and Swiss case–control studies on 13 cancer sites conducted between 1991 and 2009, and including more than 12 000 cases and 11 000 controls. We collected information on history of any cancer in first degree relatives, and age at diagnosis. Odds ratios (ORs) for FH were calculated by multiple logistic regression models, adjusted for major confounding factors.

Results All sites showed an excess risk in relation to FH of cancer at the same site. Increased risks were also found for oral and pharyngeal cancer and FH of laryngeal cancer (OR = 3.3), esophageal cancer and FH of oral and pharyngeal cancer (OR = 4.1), breast cancer and FH of colorectal cancer (OR = 1.5) and of hemolymphopoietic cancers (OR = 1.7), ovarian cancer and FH of breast cancer (OR = 2.3), and prostate cancer and FH of bladder cancer (OR = 3.4). For most cancer sites, the association with FH was stronger when the proband was affected at age < 60 years.

Conclusions Our results point to several potential cancer syndromes that appear among close relatives and may indicate the presence of genetic factors influencing multiple cancer sites.