Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (12)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yang, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Flanders, W. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yang, Q.
Right arrow Articles by Flanders, W. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 147, No. 7: 652-659
Copyright © 1998 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health

other

Family History Score as a Predictor of Breast Cancer Mortality: Prospective Data from the Cancer Prevention Study II, United States, 1982–1991

Quanhe Yang1,, Muin J. Khoury2, Carmen Rodriguez3, Eugenia E. Calle3, Lilith M. Tatham3 and W. Dana Flanders4

1 Epidemic Intelligence Service, Epidemiology Program Office and Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlanta, GA
2 Office of Genetics and Disease Prevention, CDC Atlanta, GA
3 Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society, National Home Office Atlanta, GA
4 Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University Atlanta, GA

Reprint requests to Dr. Quanhe Yang, Birth Defects and Genetic Disease Branch, BDDD, NCEH, 4770 Buford Hwy, MS F-45, Atlanta, GA 30341.

A consistent predictor of a woman's risk for breast cancer is a family history of the disease. Most studies of family history and breast cancer have used the number of affected relatives in the family to calculate relative risk, but they have not considered the heterogeneity of the familial risk for breast cancer in a systematic way. With the use of data from a large prospective mortality study of US adults, the authors compared simple classification of family history of breast cancer (yes/no) to the method of using a quantitative family history score method, which takes into account the effects of family structure, age, and birth cohort as predictors of breast cancer mortality. After 9 years of follow-up, 1,428 cases of fatal breast cancer were observed among 453,073 women with complete information on number and age of siblings and family history. With the use of the family history score, about one-third of women with a positive family history of breast cancer were at no higher risk for breast cancer mortality than those without a family history of the disease. As a quantitative measure of relative risk for each family, family history score gave a better fit to the data, and it provided an incremental improvement of predictive accuracy of developing fatal breast cancer. Family history score can also be used as a categorical variable to stratify families. This allows researchers to focus on which risk groups would benefit from conducting further genetic analysis and to test the effects of genetic factors, environmental exposure, and gene-environment interactions on the etiology of the development of breast cancer. Am J Epidemiol 1998; 147: 652–9.

breast neoplasms; cohort studies; family characteristics; family history score; genetics


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev.Home page
L. Wang, K. A. Brune, K. Visvanathan, D. Laheru, J. Herman, C. Wolfgang, R. Schulick, J. L. Cameron, M. Goggins, R. H. Hruban, et al.
Elevated Cancer Mortality in the Relatives of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., November 1, 2009; 18(11): 2829 - 2834.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN INTERN MEDHome page
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force*
Genetic Risk Assessment and BRCA Mutation Testing for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility: Recommendation Statement
Ann Intern Med, September 6, 2005; 143(5): 355 - 361.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Nephrol Dial TransplantHome page
G. Mossetti, D. Rendina, R. Viceconti, G. Manno, V. Guadagno, P. Strazzullo, and V. Nunziata
The relationship of 3' vitamin D receptor haplotypes to urinary supersaturation of calcium oxalate salts and to age at onset and familial prevalence of nephrolithiasis
Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., September 1, 2004; 19(9): 2259 - 2265.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 JCOHome page
D. H. Choi, M. H. Lee, A. E. Bale, D. Carter, and B. G. Haffty
Incidence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations in Young Korean Breast Cancer Patients
J. Clin. Oncol., May 1, 2004; 22(9): 1638 - 1645.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN INTERN MEDHome page
K. Kerlikowske, P. A. Carney, B. Geller, M. T. Mandelson, S. H. Taplin, K. Malvin, V. Ernster, N. Urban, G. Cutter, R. Rosenberg, et al.
Performance of Screening Mammography among Women with and without a First-Degree Relative with Breast Cancer
Ann Intern Med, December 5, 2000; 133(11): 855 - 863.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.