Interval breast cancer is associated with other types of tumors

• Published in: Nature communications 2019-10, Vol.10 (1), p.4648-9, Article 4648
• Main Authors: Grassmann, Felix, He, Wei, Eriksson, Mikael, Gabrielson, Marike, Hall, Per, Czene, Kamila
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 45; 45/43; 631/67/1347; 631/67/2324; 631/67/68; Aged; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Breast Neoplasms - epidemiology; Breast Neoplasms - genetics; Cohort Studies; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetics; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Mammography; Mass Screening; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Mutation; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Neoplasms - etiology; Neoplasms - genetics; Odds Ratio; Risk Factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Socioeconomic Factors; Sweden - epidemiology; Tumors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12652-1

Breast cancer (BC) patients diagnosed between two screenings (interval cancers) are more likely than screen-detected patients to carry rare deleterious mutations in cancer genes potentially leading to increased risk for other non-breast cancer (non-BC) tumors. In this study, we include 14,846 women diagnosed with BC of which 1,772 are interval and 13,074 screen-detected. Compared to women with screen-detected cancers, interval breast cancer patients are more likely to have a non-BC tumor before (Odds ratio (OR): 1.43 [1.19–1.70], P = 9.4 x 10 −5 ) and after (OR: 1.28 [1.14–1.44], P = 4.70 x 10 −5 ) breast cancer diagnosis, are more likely to report a family history of non-BC tumors and have a lower genetic risk score based on common variants for non-BC tumors. In conclusion, interval breast cancer is associated with other tumors and common cancer variants are unlikely to be responsible for this association. These findings could have implications for future screening and prevention programs. Interval cancer patients are more likely to carry rare gene mutations than screen-detected breast cancer patients. Here, the authors report that interval cancer patients are more likely cancer survivors and are at a greater risk of developing other non-breast tumors.