Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May;7(5):2192-2199.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.1470. Epub 2018 Mar 26.

Association of family history and survival in patients with colorectal cancer: a pooled analysis of eight epidemiologic studies

Dawn Q Chong  1 , Barbara L Banbury  2 , Amanda I Phipps  2   3 , Xinwei Hua  2 , Jonathan Kocarnik  2   4 , Ulrike Peters  2 , Sonja I Berndt  5 , Wen-Yi Huang  6 , John D Potter  2   3   7 , Martha L Slattery  8 , Emily White  2   3 , Peter T Campbell  9 , Tabitha Harrison  2   3 , Polly A Newcomb  2   3 , Andrew T Chan  10   11   12
Affiliations

Association of family history and survival in patients with colorectal cancer: a pooled analysis of eight epidemiologic studies

Dawn Q Chong et al. Cancer Med. 2018 May.

Abstract

A family history of colorectal cancer (CRC) in first-degree relatives (FDRs) increases the risk of CRC. However, the influence of family history on survival among CRC patients remains unclear. We conducted a pooled analysis of survival in 5010 incident CRC cases. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the association of family history with overall survival (OS) and CRC-specific survival (CSS). We also assessed the impact of the number of affected FDRs and age at CRC diagnosis in the affected FDRs on survival. Among CRC cases, 819 (16%) patients reported a family history of CRC. There were 1580 total deaths over a median follow-up of 4.6 years, of which 1046 (66%) deaths were due to CRC. Having a family history of CRC was not associated with OS [hazard ratio (HR), 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.89-1.19] or CSS (HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.95-1.36)]. There were no associations between the number of affected relatives or age at CRC diagnosis of the affected relative with survival (all Ptrend > 0.05). However, a family history of CRC did confer worse CSS in patients diagnosed with distal colon cancer (HR, 1.45, 95% CI, 1.03-2.04). A family history of CRC was generally not associated with survival after CRC diagnosis. However, having a family history of CRC was associated with worse CRC prognosis in individuals with distal colon cancer, suggesting a possible genetic predisposition with distinct pathogenic mechanism that may lead to worse survival in this group.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; family history; first-degree relative; mortality; survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. American Cancer Society . Cancer Facts & Figures 2017.
    1. Fuchs, C. S. , Giovannucci E. L., Colditz G. A., Hunter D. J., Speizer F. E., and Willett W. C.. 1994. A prospective study of family history and the risk of colorectal cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 331:1669–1674. - PubMed
    1. Ramsey, S. D. , Yoon P., Moonesinghe R., and Khoury M. J.. 2006. Population‐based study of the prevalence of family history of cancer: implications for cancer screening and prevention. Genet. Med. 8:571–575. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lynch, H. T. , and de la Chapelle A.. 2003. Hereditary colorectal cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 348:919–932. - PubMed
    1. Johns, L. E. , and Houlston R. S.. 2001. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of familial colorectal cancer risk. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 96:2992–3003. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources