Reproductive factors and risk of contralateral breast cancer by BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status: results from the WECARE study.
OBJECTIVE
Reproductive factors, such as early age at menarche, late age at menopause, and nulliparity are known risk factors for breast cancer. Previously, we reported these factors to be associated with risk of developing contralateral breast cancer (CBC). In this study, we evaluated the association between these factors and CBC risk among BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) mutation carriers and non-carriers.


METHODS
The WECARE Study is a population-based multi-center case-control study of 705 women with CBC (cases) and 1,397 women with unilateral breast cancer (controls). All participants were screened for BRCA1/2 mutations and 181 carriers were identified. Conditional logistic regression models were used to evaluate associations between reproductive factors and CBC for mutation carriers and non-carriers.


RESULTS
None of the associations between reproductive factors and CBC risk differed between mutation carriers and non-carriers. The increase in risk with younger age at menarche and decrease in risk in women with more than two full-term pregnancies seen in non-carriers were not significantly different in carriers (adjusted RRs = 1.31, 95% CI 0.65-2.65 and 0.53, 95% CI 0.19-1.51, respectively). No significant associations between the other reproductive factors and CBC risk were observed in mutation carriers or non-carriers.


CONCLUSIONS
For two reproductive factors previously shown to be associated with CBC risk, we observed similar associations for BRCA1/2 carriers. This suggests that reproductive variables that affect CBC risk may have similar effects in mutation carriers and non-carriers.
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. poynt006@umn.edu
Jenny N
JN
Poynter
Bryan
B
Langholz
Joan
J
Largent
Lene
L
Mellemkjaer
Leslie
L
Bernstein
Kathleen E
KE
Malone
Charles F
CF
Lynch
Ake
A
Borg
Patrick
P
Concannon
Sharon N
SN
Teraoka
Shanyan
S
Xue
Anh T
AT
Diep
Therese
T
Törngren
Colin B
CB
Begg
Marinela
M
Capanu
Robert W
RW
Haile
Jonine L
JL
Bernstein
D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D024522:Genes, BRCA2; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008572:Menarche / Q000235:genetics; D008593:Menopause / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000235:genetics; D010298:Parity / Q000235:genetics; D011247:Pregnancy; D017584:Reproductive History; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors
D024682:BRCA2 Protein