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Family history of breast cancer and all-cause mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Breast Cancer Family Registry

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

Although having a family history of breast cancer is a well established breast cancer risk factor, it is not known whether it influences mortality after breast cancer diagnosis. We studied 4,153 women with first primary incident invasive breast cancer diagnosed between 1991 and 2000, and enrolled in the Breast Cancer Family Registry through population-based sampling in Northern California, USA; Ontario, Canada; and Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Cases were oversampled for younger age at diagnosis and/or family history of breast cancer. Carriers of germline mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 were excluded. Cases and their relatives completed structured questionnaires assessing breast cancer risk factors and family history of cancer. Cases were followed for a median of 6.5 years, during which 725 deaths occurred. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate associations between family history of breast cancer at the time of diagnosis and risk of all-cause mortality after breast cancer diagnosis, adjusting for established prognostic factors. The hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.84–1.15) for having at least one first- or second-degree relative with breast cancer, and 0.85 (95% CI = 0.70–1.02) for having at least one first-degree relative with breast cancer, compared with having no such family history. Estimates did not vary appreciably when stratified by case or tumor characteristics. In conclusion, family history of breast cancer is not associated with all-cause mortality after breast cancer diagnosis for women without a known germline mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Therefore, clinical management should not depend on family history of breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the thousands of women and their families who participated in this research. We also thank Enid Satariano and Jocelyn Koo (Northern California Cancer Center), Gordon Glendon and Elaine Maloney (Cancer Care Ontario), and Maggie Angelakos (University of Melbourne) for their assistance. The Breast Cancer Family Registry (Breast CFR) was supported by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health under RFA CA-95-011 and CA-06-503, and through cooperative agreements with members of the Breast CFR and P.I.s. The three Breast CFRs contributing data to this analysis were supported by U01 CA69417 (Northern California Cancer Center), U01 CA69467 (Cancer Care Ontario), and U01 CA69638 (University of Melbourne). The content of this manuscript does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Cancer Institute or any of the collaborating centers in the Breast CFR, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government or the Breast CFR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northern California Cancer Center, 2201 Walnut Avenue, Suite 300, Fremont, CA, 94538, USA

    Ellen T. Chang, Meera Sangaramoorthy, Theresa H. M. Keegan, Dee W. West & Esther M. John

  2. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    Ellen T. Chang, Theresa H. M. Keegan, Alice S. Whittemore, Dee W. West & Esther M. John

  3. Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Group, Human Cancer Genetics Program, Spanish National Cancer Center (CNIO), Madrid, Spain

    Roger L. Milne

  4. Centre for Molecular, Environmental, Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Roger L. Milne, John L. Hopper & Carmel Apicella

  5. Division of Haematology and Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Kelly-Anne Phillips

  6. Department of Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Kelly-Anne Phillips

  7. Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Jane C. Figueiredo, Irene L. Andrulis & Pamela J. Goodwin

  8. Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jane C. Figueiredo

  9. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Irene L. Andrulis & Frances P. O’Malley

  10. Ontario Cancer Genetics Network, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Irene L. Andrulis & Nayana Weerasooriya

  11. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Pamela J. Goodwin

  12. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Pamela J. Goodwin

  13. Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Melissa C. Southey

  14. Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia

    Michael L. Friedlander

  15. Cancer Epidemiology Centre, The Cancer Council Victoria, Carlton, VIC, Australia

    Graham G. Giles

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  1. Ellen T. Chang
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  2. Roger L. Milne
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  3. Kelly-Anne Phillips
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  16. Alice S. Whittemore
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  17. Dee W. West
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  18. Esther M. John
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Correspondence to Ellen T. Chang.

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Chang, E.T., Milne, R.L., Phillips, KA. et al. Family history of breast cancer and all-cause mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Breast Cancer Family Registry. Breast Cancer Res Treat 117, 167–176 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-0255-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-008-0255-3

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