Men with BRCA2 mutations have been found to be at increased risk of developing prostate cancer. There is a recent report that BRCA2 carriers with prostate cancer have poorer survival than noncarrier prostate cancer patients. In this study, we compared survival of men with a BRCA2 mutation and prostate cancer with that of men with a BRCA1 mutation and prostate cancer. We obtained the age at diagnosis, age at death or current age from 182 men with prostate cancer from families with a BRCA2 mutation and from 119 men with prostate cancer from families with a BRCA1 mutation. The median survival from diagnosis was 4.0 years for men with a BRCA2 mutation vs 8.0 years for men with a BRCA1 mutation, and the difference was highly significant (Po0.01). It may be important to develop targeted chemotherapies to treat prostate cancer in men with a BRCA2 mutation. British Journal of Cancer (2008) BRCA2 is a multisite cancer gene. It is generally thought that BRCA2 mutations primarily affect women, but men with mutations are also at elevated cancer risk. The two most important cancer sites for males who carry a mutation are the prostate and the pancreas (Liede et al, 2004). The risk of prostate cancer is elevated approximately fivefold in BRCA2 carriers, compared to noncarriers. Genetic counselors and urologists advise men with BRCA2 mutations to undergo surveillance with annual PSA testing from the age of 40 years -a recommendation based on the perceived effectiveness of prostate screening. It is hoped that screening leads to early diagnosis, when cure rates are high. A recent study from Iceland suggests that prostate cancers in men with a BRCA2 mutation may be unusually aggressive (Tryggvadottir et al, 2007). Tryggvadottir et al (2007) identified the Icelandic founder mutation (BRCA2 999 del5) in 30 of the 527 prostate cancer patients studied (5.7%). Men with a BRCA2 mutation had a median survival of only 2.1 years, compared with 12.4 years for noncarriers (Po0.01). The survival difference could not be explained by stage or grade. It is important that these findings be replicated because of the implications for the screening of men with a BRCA2 mutation. We identified the prostate cancer patients in a panel of 2673 families with a BRCA1 or a BRCA2 mutation and estimated survival of the men in the two subgroups. METHODSMen with prostate cancer were included in the survival analysis if they were from a family with a BRCA mutation and if they were (a) known to carry the familial BRCA mutation, or (b) if they were a first-degree relative of a known carrier, or (c) if they were a firstdegree relative of a woman diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. For each eligible man with prostate cancer, information was collected on age at diagnosis, age at death (if deceased) or age when last known alive (if alive). Information was collected by the

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The AURKA oncogene is associated with abnormal chromosome segregation and aneuploidy and predisposition to cancer. Amplification of AURKA has been detected at higher frequency in tumors from BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers than in sporadic breast tumors, suggesting that overexpression of AURKA and inactivation of BRCA1 and BRCA2 cooperate during tumor development and progression. The F31I polymorphism in AURKA has been associated The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

BMI = body mass index; LRT = likelihood ratio test; SHBG = sex hormone binding globulin; WHR = waist-hip ratio. (Print ISSN 1465-5411; Online ISSN 1465-542X). This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any non-commercial purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL. Breast Cancer Research Vol 5 No 2 Adebamowo et al. Research article Waist-hip ratio and breast cancer risk in urbanized Nigerian women AbstractBackground: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between waist-hip ratio and the risk of breast cancer in an urban Nigerian population. Methods:Between March 1998 and August 2000, we conducted a case-control study of hospital-based breast cancer patients (n = 234) and population-based controls (n = 273) using nurse interviewers in urban Southwestern Nigeria.Results: Multivariable logistic regression showed a significant association between the highest tertile of waist-hip ratio and the risk of breast cancer (odds ratio = 2.67, 95% confidence interval = 1.05-6.80) among postmenopausal women. No association was found in premenopausal women. Conclusion:The present study, the first in an indigenous African population, supports other studies that have shown a positive association between obesity and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women.Keywords: breast cancer, Nigeria, obesity, waist-hip ratio, women Open AccessAvailable online http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/5/2/R18 R19 diet and physical activity (both contributing to obesity), use of hormones/other medications, and obstetric/gynecological practices [6]. In the current paper, we present the results of the first study of the association between waist-hip ratio (WHR) and breast cancer in an indigenous African population.