Breast and prostate cancer co-occur in families, and women with a family history of prostate cancer are at increased breast cancer risk. Prostate cancer is among the most heritable cancers, but few studies have investigated its association with familial breast cancer. The objective of this study is to investigate the extent to which familial breast or prostate cancer in first-degree relatives increases prostate cancer risk.
A prospective study of 37,002 U.S. men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. During 16-year follow-up to 2012, 4,208 total and 344 lethal cases were diagnosed. Using cause-specific hazards regression, we estimated multivariable hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between familial breast or prostate cancer and total and lethal prostate cancer.
Those with familial breast cancer had a 21% greater risk of prostate cancer overall (95% CI 1.10-1.34), and a 34% greater risk of lethal disease (HR 1.34; 95% CI 0.96-1.89). Family history of prostate cancer alone was associated with a 68% increased risk of total disease (95% CI 1.53-1.83) and a 72% increased risk of lethal disease (95% CI 1.25-2.38). Men with a family history of both cancers were also at elevated risk.
Our study found that men with a family history of breast or prostate cancer had elevated prostate cancer risks, including risk of lethal disease. These findings have translational relevance for cancer risk prediction in men.
Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. 2018 Aug 06 [Epub ahead of print]
Lauren E Barber, Travis Gerke, Sarah C Markt, Samuel F Peisch, Kathryn M Wilson, Thomas U Ahearn, Edward L Giovannucci, Giovanni Parmigiani, Lorelei A Mucci
Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston University School of Public Health., Cancer Epidemiology, Moffitt Cancer Center., Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health., Department of Epidemiology, Emory University ., Divison of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute., Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health., Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute., Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.