title: Familial and personal history of cancer in bronchogenic carcinoma--frequency and clinical implications.
abstract: A familial and personal history of cancer might be associated with a more aggressive cancerous disease. This study was carried out on 1277 consecutive lung cancer (LC) patients, seen from January 1989 to October 2002 in a single institution. A set of 31 clinical laboratory, radiological and pathological variables was recorded prospectively for all patients. In addition, both the number of first-degree blood-relatives with cancer (lung and non-lung cancers) and the personal history of previously cured cancers were noted. There were 368 patients (28.8% of the sample) who had one first-degree relative with cancer (112, 8.7% of the sample with LC), 100 (7.8%) had two first-degree relatives (six with LC) and 31 (2.4%) had three or more relatives affected (four with LC). In total, 1142 patients (89.4% of the sample) have never been treated for another cancer; the remaining 135 patients (10.6%) had already been diagnosed with a variety of tumours, including head and neck cancer (36 patients, 2.8%), bladder cancer (33 patients, 2.6%), colorectal cancer (24 patients, 1.9%), breast cancer (seven patients, 0.6%), melanoma (five patients, 0.4%), skin (five patients, 0.4%) and prostate cancer (five patients, 0.4%). Among the variables studied, none was found to be significantly associated with a personal and/or family history of cancer. Survival expectancy was similar among patients with or without a familial or personal history of cancer. A familial and a personal history of cancer are common features in LC, but are not of clinical significance.
authors.affiliation: Cuneo Lung Cancer Study Group, Unit of Respiratory Medicine, S. Croce e Carle Hospitals, Cuneo, Italy. buccheri@culcasg.org
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Buccheri
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferrigno
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002283:Carcinoma, Bronchogenic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008019:Life Style; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D016019:Survival Analysis