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. 2013 Jun;50(6):368-72.
doi: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2013-101607. Epub 2013 Mar 28.

Ovarian cancer among 8,005 women from a breast cancer family history clinic: no increased risk of invasive ovarian cancer in families testing negative for BRCA1 and BRCA2

Sarah Louise Ingham  1 , Jane Warwick, Iain Buchan, Sarah Sahin, Catherine O'Hara, Anthony Moran, Anthony Howell, D Gareth Evans
Affiliations

Ovarian cancer among 8,005 women from a breast cancer family history clinic: no increased risk of invasive ovarian cancer in families testing negative for BRCA1 and BRCA2

Sarah Louise Ingham et al. J Med Genet. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Mutations in BRCA1/2 genes confer ovarian, alongside breast, cancer risk. We examined the risk of developing ovarian cancer in BRCA1/2-positive families and if this risk is extended to BRCA negative families.

Patients and methods: A prospective study involving women seen at a single family history clinic in Manchester, UK. Patients were excluded if they had ovarian cancer or oophorectomy prior to clinic. Follow-up was censored at the latest date of: 31/12/2010; ovarian cancer diagnosis; oophorectomy; or death. We used person-years at risk to assess ovarian cancer rates in the study population, subdivided by genetic status (BRCA1, BRCA2, BRCA negative, BRCA untested) compared with the general population.

Results: We studied 8005 women from 895 families. Women from BRCA2 mutation families showed a 17-fold increased risk of invasive ovarian cancer (relative risk (RR) 16.67; 95% CI 5.41 to 38.89). This risk increased to 50-fold in women from families with BRCA1 mutations (RR 50.00; 95% CI 26.62 to 85.50). No association was found for women in families tested negative for BRCA1/2, where there was 1 observed invasive ovarian cancer in 1613 women when 2.74 were expected (RR 0.37; 95% CI 0.01 to 2.03). There was no association with ovarian cancer in families untested for BRCA1/2 (RR 0.99; 95% CI 0.45 to 1.88).

Discussion: This study showed no increased risk of ovarian cancer in families that tested negative for BRCA1/2 or were untested. These data help counselling women from BRCA1/2 negative families with breast cancer that their risk of invasive ovarian cancer is not higher than the general population.

Keywords: BRCA; Cancer: breast; Cancer: ovarian.

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