Population-based estimates of the age-specific cumulative risk of breast cancer for pathogenic variants in CHEK2: Findings from the Australian Breast Cancer Family Registry.

Abstract

551 Background: Case-control studies of breast cancer have consistently shown that pathogenic variants in CHEK2 are associated with about a 3-fold increased risk of breast cancer. Information about the recurrent protein truncating variant CHEK2c.1100delC dominates this estimate. There have been no formal estimates of age-specific cumulative risk of breast cancer for all CHEK2 pathogenic (including likely pathogenic) variants combined. Methods: We conducted a genetic screen of CHEK2 in an Australian population-based case-control-family study of breast cancer. This study is focused on disease at an early age and participants were unselected for family history. The age-specific cumulative risk (penetrance) of breast cancer was estimated using segregation analysis. Results: The estimated hazard ratio for carriers of pathogenic CHEK2 variants (combined) was 4.9 (95% CI 2.5-9.5; p < 0.0001) relative to non-carriers. The HR for carriers of the CHEK2 c.1100delC variant was estimated to be 3.5 (95% CI 1.02-11.6) and the HR for carriers of all other CHEK2 variants combined was estimated to be 5.7 (95% CI 2.5-12.9). The age-specific cumulative risk of breast cancer was estimated to be 18% (95% CI 11-30%) and 33% (95% CI 21-48%) to age 60 and 80 years, respectively. Conclusions: These findings provide important information for the clinical management of breast cancer risk for women carrying pathogenic variants in CHEK2.