scholarly journals Update on chemoprevention in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Stumacher ◽  
S. M. Domchek

Chemoprevention with tamoxifen and oophorectomy are thought to be effective in decreasing the incidence of breast cancer in women at increased risk for the disease. There is mounting data supporting the idea that hormonal interventions that reduce estrogen exposure to breast epithelium, such as prophylactic oophorectomy and tamoxifen, are effective in breast cancer prevention in both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations carriers. Several recent studies directly address the protective effect of tamoxifen and oophorectomy in BRCA mutation carriers and suggest that these endocrine manipulations decrease the risk of primary and secondary breast cancers. Ongoing studies aim to better define the effect of tamoxifen in these very high-risk women and determining whether factors, such as earlier age of use or prior prophylactic oophorectomy, impact tamoxifen's effect. Based on existing data, we recommend that women with deleterious mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 be informed of the beneficial effect of oophorectomy on breast cancer risk and that women who choose breast cancer screening instead of prophylactic mastectomy be offered tamoxifen as a prevention option.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e12038-e12038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Walsh ◽  
Michael P. Farrell ◽  
Fergal Gallagher ◽  
Roisin Clarke ◽  
Carmel Nolan ◽  
...  

e12038 Background: High-risk breast cancer screening for BRCA1/2 mutations carriers with clinical breast exam, mammography and MRI have sensitivities approaching 100%. Even with intensive screening BRCA mutation carriers can present with self-detected interval cancers. We investigate screening practices and presentation among a cohort of Irish BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Methods: Females with breast cancer belonging to kindreds now known to harbour BRCA1/2 mutations were retrospectively identified. Records were reviewed for BRCA mutation, demographics, breast cancer diagnosis, stage, histology and screening. We assessed screening modalities and whether breast cancers were diagnosed at screening or as interval cancers. Results: 53 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed from 1968-2010 among 53 Irish hereditary breast ovarian cancer kindreds. BRCA mutation status was unknown at time of diagnosis but subsequently confirmed. Detection method was identified in 50% of patients: 84% by clinical breast exam (CBE), 4% mammography, 4% MRI and 8% by a combination of CBE and mammography. Fifteen women (28%) developed second breast cancer; 9(60%) were undergoing screening, 2 were not and 27% were unknown. 22% were detected by CBE alone; 34% mammography; 22% a combination of mammography and CBE and 22% by MRI. In 41%, histology changed between first and second diagnosis. Two women developed a third breast cancer. In one, her second was an interval cancer despite being in a screening programme. Her third was radiologically detected. Conclusions: In this cohort of Irish BRCA1/2 mutation carriers almost 25% of second breast cancers were not detected by screening. 4% of cases were phenocopies and in 41% histology changed between first and second diagnosis. [Table: see text]


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (27_suppl) ◽  
pp. 59-59
Author(s):  
Elaine Walsh ◽  
Michael P. Farrell ◽  
Fergal Gallagher ◽  
Roisin Clarke ◽  
Carmel Nolan ◽  
...  

59 Background: High-risk breast cancer screening for BRCA1/2 mutations carriers with clinical breast exam, mammography and MRI have sensitivities approaching 100%. Even with intensive screening BRCA mutation carriers can present with self-detected interval cancers. We investigate screening practices and presentation among a cohort of Irish BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Methods: Females with breast cancer belonging to kindreds now known to harbour BRCA1/2 mutations were retrospectively identified. Records were reviewed for BRCA mutation, demographics, breast cancer diagnosis, stage, histology and screening. We assessed screening modalities and whether breast cancers were diagnosed at screening or as interval cancers. Results: 53 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed from 1968-2010 among 53 Irish hereditary breast ovarian cancer kindreds. BRCA mutation status was unknown at time of diagnosis but subsequently confirmed. Detection method was identified in 50% of patients: 84% by clinical breast exam (CBE), 4% mammography, 4% MRI and 8% by a combination of CBE and mammography. Fifteen women (28%) developed second breast cancer; 9(60%) were undergoing screening, 2 were not and 27% were unknown. 22% were detected by CBE alone; 34% mammography; 22% a combination of mammography and CBE and 22% by MRI. In 41%, histology changed between first and second diagnosis. Two women developed a third breast cancer. In one, her second was an interval cancer despite being in a screening programme. Her third was radiologically detected. Conclusions: In this cohort of Irish BRCA1/2 mutation carriers almost 25% of second breast cancers were not detected by screening. 4% of cases were phenocopies and in 41% histology changed between first and second diagnosis. [Table: see text]


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1585-1585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roohi Ismail-Khan ◽  
Monique Sajjad ◽  
Weihong Sun ◽  
Hatem Hussein Soliman ◽  
Hyo S. Han ◽  
...  

1585 Background: Anthracycline related cardiac toxicity (CT) is a concern in treating women with breast cancer. The prevalence of heart failure (HF) affects 2% of the population, less so in women. Patients receiving anthracycline based therapy (ABT) have a dose-dependent risk of reduction in ejection fraction. Recent work by Dr. Verma suggests that BRCA-deficient mice manifest increased levels of cardiac failure. We sought to explore the risk for CT and evaluate the association between ABT and HF in female BRCA mutation carriers. Methods: An online survey was developed to collect information about breast cancer treatment (including HF) in BRCA mutation carriers through the national BRCA patient advocacy organization FORCE via their 2011 conference and their website as well as the Moffitt-based Inherited Cancer Registry (ICARE). The prevalence of CT and HF was calculated in both BRCA 1 and 2 breast cancer patients and compared to general population risks. Data from those that received ABT was compared to published HF rates from ABT. Results: Our sample included 227 BRCA1 carriers and 164 BRCA2 carriers in whom 6.4% reported cardiac toxicity (i.e., either HF and/or CT). This included similar proportions in BRCA1 vs BRCA2 carriers (i.e., 6.6% and 6.1%, respectively). These proportions are significantly higher than the published rate of 2% (all p-values < 0.001). Specifically regarding ABT, 112 mutation carriers had doxorubicin (Adriamycin) for treatment of whom 8% reported HF, similar to the 11 who had Epirubicin (11 patients), of whom 9% reported HF. Conclusions: Our data suggests that BRCA mutation carriers may have an increased risk of CT compared to the general population. In particular, women with BRCA mutations treated with ABT also appear to have a higher risk of developing CT and/or HF. This exploratory study provides the basis upon which larger retrospective and prospective studies are currently being planned. The high percentage of CT observed in this study requires confirmation as they could inform recommendation for cardiac screening and review of the current standard for ABT use in this population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Nemati Shafaee ◽  
Kristina Goutsouliak ◽  
Heather Lin ◽  
Therese B Bevers ◽  
Angelica Gutierrez-Barrera ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Deleterious BRCA mutations confer a significant lifetime risk of breast cancer (BC) as well as contralateral BC (CBC) in patients who do not undergo prophylactic mastectomy. Prior reports have suggested that tamoxifen reduces the risk of CBC in BRCA mutation carriers. Whether aromatase inhibitors (AI) have the same effect is unknown. Methods: This is a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with non-metastatic ER+ BC between 2004-2014 with known BRCA mutation status. Patients were followed from primary diagnosis until CBC diagnosis or death. Median follow up was 11.5 years. Risk of CBC was evaluated as time to event. Results: 935 subjects were included in this analysis, with 53 BRCA1 mutation carriers, and 94 BRCA2 mutation carriers. Median age at diagnosis was 42.7 years. Seventy-two percent (676) received tamoxifen and 43% (405) received AI. A total of 66 CBCs occurred, of which 10% (15/147) occurred in BRCA mutation carriers vs %6.5 (51/788) in BRCA wild type. Multivariate analyses indicated that BRCA status and AI use were significantly associated with CBC risk. AI use resulted in a significant reduction in risk of CBC (HR 0.44, p=0.004) regardless of the BRCA mutation status. Tamoxifen use was not associated with reduced risk of CBC. Conclusions: This is the first report showing that AIs reduce the risk of CBC in BRCA mutation carriers. The potential role of AIs as chemoprevention should be validated in larger independent cohorts.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (25) ◽  
pp. 3831-3836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Brohet ◽  
David E. Goldgar ◽  
Douglas F. Easton ◽  
Antonis C. Antoniou ◽  
Nadine Andrieu ◽  
...  

Purpose Earlier studies have shown that endogenous gonadal hormones play an important role in the etiology of breast cancer among BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. So far, little is known about the safety of exogenous hormonal use in mutation carriers. In this study, we examined the association between oral contraceptive use and risk of breast cancer among BRCA1/2 carriers. Patients and Methods In the International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort study (IBCCS), a retrospective cohort of 1,593 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers was analyzed with a weighted Cox regression analysis. Results We found an increased risk of breast cancer for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers who ever used oral contraceptives (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.87). HRs did not vary according to time since stopping use, age at start, or calendar year at start. However, a longer duration of use, especially before first full-term pregnancy, was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer for both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers (4 or more years of use before first full-term pregnancy: HR = 1.49 [95% CI, 1.05 to 2.11] for BRCA1 carriers and HR = 2.58 [95% CI, 1.21 to 5.49] for BRCA2 carriers). Conclusion No evidence was found among BRCA1/2 mutation carriers that current use of oral contraceptives is associated with risk of breast cancer more strongly than is past use, as is found in the general population. However, duration of use, especially before first full-term pregnancy, may be associated with an increasing risk of breast cancer among both BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 10014-10014 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bigenwald ◽  
E. Warner ◽  
A. Gunasekara ◽  
K. Hill ◽  
P. Causer ◽  
...  

10014 Background: Several large observational studies have demonstrated that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is much more sensitive than M (sensitivity 71–96% vs. 28–43%) for screening women > age 25 at high risk for hereditary breast cancer. However, MRI is much more costly and less specific than M. The extent to which the low sensitivity of M in these studies is due to the greater average breast density of younger women is unknown. Accordingly, we sought to determine the sensitivity of M and MRI according to breast density for the detection of breast cancer in a screening study of BRCA mutation carriers. Methods: Breast density was measured on the screening mammogram of the contralateral breast for all women who developed in-situ or invasive breast cancer on study. Density was measured in 2 ways: qualitatively according to the four categories characterized by the BIRADS system: 1) mostly fatty, 2) scattered fibroglandular tissue, 3) heterogeneously dense, 4) extremely dense; and semi-quantitatively using computer-aided techniques with subsequent classification as: A) ≤10%, B) 11–25%, C) 26%-50%, or D) >50% density. Results: Between 11/97 and 06/05 a total of 39 cases (12 in-situ and 27 invasive) were found in 36 mutation carriers (19 BRCA1 and 17 BRCA2). Mean age of the women with cancer was 48 (range 34 to 64). Average semi-quantitative breast density for BRCA1 mutation carriers was 28% and for BRCA2 was 27%. Sensitivity of M vs. MRI for in-situ cases was 25% vs. 83%, and for invasive cases was 30% vs. 93%. Sensitivities for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers were similar. For BIRADS 1 to 4 respectively M detected 1/3 (33%), 5/11 (45%), 4/22 (18%), and 1/3 (33%) of cases; and for density groups A to D respectively detected 2/6 (33%), 7/15 (47%), 1/11 (9%) and, 1/7 (14%). Conclusion: Although there was a trend towards decreasing mammographic sensitivity with increasing density, even among BRCA mutation carriers with low breast density mammography is an inadequate screening tool. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4653-4653
Author(s):  
Emma Killick ◽  
Richard Morgan ◽  
Francesca Launchbury ◽  
Nicola E. Annels ◽  
Elizabeth Bancroft ◽  
...  

4653 Background: EN2 is part of the HOX gene family and plays a role in foetal development. More recently a potential oncogenic role for the protein has been postulated and its utility as a cancer biomarker has been explored in prostate cancer (PrCa) and breast cancer. Carriers of mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have an increased risk of PrCa (1.8-fold and 5-fold respectively) and their tumours tend to be more aggressive and advanced than sporadic cases. Currently there is no national screening program for BRCA mutation carriers in the UK, and the IMPACT study was set up to evaluate PSA screening in this particular group. Here we analyse the efficacy of the urinary EN2 protein as a marker of early cancer detection within this higher risk group. Methods: First pass urine (without preceding digital rectal examination) was collected as part of the IMPACT screening study which enrolled individuals aged between 40 and 69 who were unaffected by PrCa at time of enrolment into the study (n= 418). All participants were from families harbouring a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation and were either BRCA mutation carriers themselves or controls with a negative predictive BRCA genetic test. They underwent annual PSA test with a PSA of > 3.0 ng/ml triggering a diagnostic biopsy. EN2 protein was measured in the urine using an ELISA; (positive = > 42.5ng/ml). Results: Our initial results demonstrated urinary EN2 had a sensitivity of 66.67% and a specificity of 89.29% when discriminating which men had been diagnosed with PrCa; the ROC AUC was 0.816. The difference in EN2 level between those diagnosed with cancer and those who were not was significant (p = <0.001). There was trend towards higher EN2 levels in those with more aggressive tumours (median EN2 84.5ng/mL in Gleason ≤3+4 vs 111ng/mL in Gleason ≥4+3), however this was not statistically significant. In one PrCa case EN2 rise preceded PSA rise by 2 years. Further samples are in the process of being analysed, results from these will be included. Conclusions: Urinary EN2 protein measurement warrants further investigation as a PrCa biomarker in this higher risk group with genetic predisposition to PrCa.


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