title: Four Cases of Familial Breast Cancer.
abstract: We report 4 families with a remarkable history of cancer, including bilateral breast cancer, early onset breast cancer under age 40, and one or more cancers at other sites. We detected a second malignancy in 4 probands during follow-up after the first operation(families 1, 2, 3 and 4), and could salvage 3 of them (families 2, 3 and 4). We also found 2 family members with cancer by surveillance of family 4 and they underwent suitable treatment (elder sister and elder brother). In conclusion, a knowledge of the natural history of familial breast cancer with particular attention to age at onset and bilaterality may allow for the development of more accurately targeted surveillance, genetic counseling, and management strategies.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya 663, Japan.
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Utsunomiya