title: No evidence of familial correlation in breast cancer metastasis.
abstract: Animal experiments support the hypothesis that the metastatic potential of breast cancer is a heritable trait of the host. Our objective was to evaluate correlations in metastasis occurrence in large families with multiple cases of breast cancer. We evaluated correlation among pairs of relatives in the occurrence and timing of distant metastasis using retrospective cohort data from 743 female breast cancer patients in 242 families. We adjusted for correlation in their age at diagnosis, year of diagnosis, educational level, lymph node involvement, and estrogen receptor status. Distant metastasis occurred in 255 patients (34.3%) during mean followup of 11.7 years. None of the correlation coefficients for metastasis in blood relatives differed significantly from zero. The estimated correlation coefficient in first-degree relatives was -0.03 (95% confidence interval -0.11 to 0.06). These findings suggest that a family history of metastatic breast cancer does not contribute substantially to risk of metastasis for breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Redwood Building, Room T204, Stanford, CA, 94305-5405, USA. alicesw@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Alice S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Whittemore
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stearman
authors.forename: Vickie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Venne
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Felberg
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: McGuire
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Saundra S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Buys
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000235:genetics*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors