Natural history of hereditary cancer of the breast and colon

Abstract

The natural history of 106 patients from eighteen families manifesting hereditary breast cancer syndromes, and 117 affected patients from twenty families manifesting nonpolyposis hereditary colon cancer were evaluated. Findings were compared with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) long‐term audits for breast and colon cancer respectively. The cardinal features of hereditary cancer were observed within the study group, including: (1) a significant younger age of onset (49 years, breast; 46 years, colon); (2) an excess of proximal lesions in the hereditary colon series (49%); and (3) an excess of bilaterality in the hereditary breast cancer patients. The clinical stage at presentation was similar for the hereditary and ACS audit patients. Five‐year survival was significantly improved (P < .05) for both hereditary cancer populations as compared to the ACS audits (67% hereditary breast cancer and 52% nonpolyposis hereditary colon cancer). Improved survival in hereditary colon and breast cancer patients may have a bearing on the design of future clinical protocols.

Excess risk of breast cancer in the mothers of children with soft tissue sarcomas

“…It has been suggested that familial breast cancer has a better prognosis than sporadic (Albano et al, 1982). Among the present 6 cases, 2 are still alive 20 years and 19 years respectively after diagnosis; a third patient is alive nearly 3 years after diagnosis; and a fourth patient died after 72 years.…”

Survival of patients with hereditary colorectal cancer: Comparison of HNPCC and colorectal cancer in FAP patients with sporadic colorectal cancer

“…Selection bias and the possible effects of enhanced diagnostic or preventive screening have often hampered efforts to confirm the hypothesis of a more favorable prognosis for colorectal cancer in HNPCC and FAP (Albano et al, 1982;Bertario et al, 1994;Bulow et al, 1995;Jarvinen et al, 1995). The aim of our study was to compare the prognosis of colorectal cancer in HNPCC, FAP and sporadiccolorectal-carcinoma patients.…”

Family history and survival in premenopausal breast cancer

“…In contrast, there are few studies that have examined the association between breast cancer histopathology and a family history of breast cancer (Rosen et al, 1982;Claus et al, 1993; Fukutomi et al, 1993). There are, however, several anecdotal reports of improved survival rates in patients with a family history of breast cancer (Lynch et al, 1981;Albano et al, 1982). The few studies carried out since the identification of the BRCAJ gene have reported a more favourable prognosis for patients from BRCAI-linked breast/ovarian cancer families (Malone et al, 1996;Marcus et al, 1996;Rubin et al, 1996).…”