title: Effects of BRCA1- and BRCA2-related mutations on ovarian and breast cancer survival: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations on ovarian cancer and breast cancer survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched PubMed and EMBASE for studies that evaluated the associations between BRCA mutations and ovarian or breast cancer survival. Meta-analysis was conducted to generate combined HRs with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 1,201 unique citations, we identified 27 articles that compared prognosis between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers in patients with ovarian or breast cancer. Fourteen studies examined ovarian cancer survival and 13 studies examined breast cancer survival. For ovarian cancer, meta-analysis demonstrated that both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers had better OS (HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.70-0.83 for BRCA1 mutation carriers; HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.50-0.66 for BRCA2 mutation carriers) and PFS (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.52-0.81 for BRCA1 mutation carriers; HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47-0.80 for BRCA2 mutation carriers) than noncarriers, regardless of tumor stage, grade, or histologic subtype. Among patients with breast cancer, BRCA1 mutation carriers had worse OS (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.11-2.04) than noncarriers but were not significantly different from noncarriers in PFS. BRCA2 mutation was not associated with breast cancer prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analyses suggest that BRCA mutations are robust predictors of outcomes in both ovarian and breast cancers and these mutations should be taken into account when devising appropriate therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China.
authors.forename: Hong-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, PR China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Ovarian Cancer Research Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. whwang@mail.med.upenn.edu linzhang@mail.med.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ovarian Cancer Research Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. whwang@mail.med.upenn.edu linzhang@mail.med.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Wei-Ting
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D013534:Survival
chemical_list: D019313:BRCA1 Protein; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human