Impact of Abortions on Breast Cancer Risk in BRCA Mutation Carriers
Author Information
Author(s): Eitan Friedman, Joanne Kotsopoulos, Jan Lubinski, Henry T Lynch, Parviz Ghadirian, Susan L Neuhausen, Claudine Isaacs, Barbara Weber, William D Foulkes, Pal Moller, Barry Rosen, Charmaine Kim-Sing, Ruth Gershoni-Baruch, Peter Ainsworth, Mary Daly, Nadine Tung, Andrea Eisen, Olufunmilayo I Olopade, Beth Karlan, Howard M Saal, Judy E Garber, Gad Rennert, Dawna Gilchrist, Charis Eng, Kenneth Offit, Michael Osborne, Ping Sun, Steven A Narod
Primary Institution: The Suzanne Levy Gertner Oncogenetics Unit, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel
Hypothesis
Does the history of spontaneous and therapeutic abortions affect the risk of breast cancer among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers?
Conclusion
Spontaneous abortions do not influence breast cancer risk in BRCA mutation carriers, but having two or more therapeutic abortions may lower the risk for BRCA2 carriers.
Supporting Evidence
- BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers have a significantly increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
- Therapeutic abortions were inversely associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA2 carriers.
- Spontaneous abortions did not show a significant association with breast cancer risk among BRCA mutation carriers.
Takeaway
Women with BRCA mutations who have had miscarriages don't have a higher chance of getting breast cancer, but those with BRCA2 mutations might have a lower chance if they've had two or more abortions.
Methodology
Matched case-control study comparing spontaneous and therapeutic abortion rates among BRCA mutation carriers and non-carrier controls.
Potential Biases
Potential recall bias in reporting past abortions, especially among women with breast cancer.
Limitations
The study population may not represent the general population, and recall bias may affect the reporting of abortion histories.
Participant Demographics
Women from 55 centers in 8 countries, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and non-carrier controls.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.02
Confidence Interval
0.16–0.83
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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