title: Association of family history with cancer recurrence and survival in patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Family history of gastric cancer is a major risk factor for the disease. In this study, we investigated the prognoses of patients with gastric cancer with a family history.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed data from 1,273 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma who had undergone gastrectomy between 2001 and 2005 at a tertiary cancer center hospital. A positive family history was defined as a self-reported history of cancer in first- or second-degree relatives. Patients were followed up until December 2009 for death or recurrence. Clinicopathologic characteristics were compared by family history. Kaplan-Meier plots and Cox proportional hazards regressions were applied for disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1,273 patients, 263 patients (20.6%) had first-degree relatives with a history of gastric cancer. First-degree family history of gastric cancer was associated with better DFS, RFS, and OS (P = .012, .006, and .005, respectively). In patients with stage I or II gastric cancer, first-degree family history was not associated with survival. However, it was associated with a reduced risk of recurrence or mortality in patients with stage III or IV gastric cancer. Compared with patients without a family history, the adjusted hazard ratios for those with a first-degree family history of gastric cancer were 0.49 (95% CI, 0.29 to 0.84) for DFS, 0.51 (95% CI, 0.30 to 0.87) for RFS, and 0.47 (95% CI, 0.26 to 0.84) for OS in patients with stage III or IV gastric cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A first-degree family history of gastric cancer is associated with improved survival after curative-intent surgery in patients with stage III or IV gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: National Cancer Center, 323 Ilsan-ro, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, 410-769, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi Ah
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Myueng Guen
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Il Ju
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sook Ryun
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Keun Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Byung-Ho
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Soo-Jeong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chan Gyoo
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young-Woo
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome