Prevalence and characteristics of pancreatic cancer in families with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
A growing body of research describes cancers other than breast and ovarian in families with BRCA1/2 mutations, but the prevalence and characteristics of pancreatic cancer in these families has not been well described. This study was designed to: (1) estimate the prevalence of pancreatic cancer in BRCA1/2 positive families; (2) ascertain age of onset and gender distribution of pancreatic cancer in this cohort; and (3) compare age and gender characteristics of pancreatic cancer in BRCA1/2 positive families with those of the general population. Within the UCSF Cancer Risk Program cohort, 24/219 (11.0%) BRCA1 and 17/156 (10.9%) BRCA2 families had at least 1 individual with pancreatic cancer. In the 24 BRCA1 families, median age of diagnosis was 59 (range 45-80) in males, and 68 (range 38-87) in females (male:female ratio = 2.00). In the 17 BRCA2 families, median age of diagnosis was 67 (range 39-78) in males and 59 (range 46-81) in females (male:female ratio = 1.11). The SEER database, which describes cancer characteristics in a representative sample of the US population, reports a median age of 70 in males and 74 in females (male:female ratio = 0.96) over the same time period. Additionally, mean ages of diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in BRCA1/2 families differ significantly from the SEER mean (P = 0.0014 for BRCA1 and P = 0.011 for BRCA2 by unpaired t-test). Our findings suggest that families with early onset pancreatic cancer and features of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer should be considered for BRCA1/2 testing.
School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA.
Daniel H
DH
Kim
Beth
B
Crawford
John
J
Ziegler
Mary S
MS
Beattie
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D019398:Genes, BRCA1 / Q000502:physiology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D010375:Pedigree; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
D024682:BRCA2 Protein