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. 2009 Aug 5:9:269.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-9-269.

Family history of cancer and risk for esophageal and gastric cancer in Shanxi, China

Ying Gao  1 , Nan Hu, XiaoYou Han, Carol Giffen, Ti Ding, Alisa Goldstein, Philip Taylor
Affiliations

Family history of cancer and risk for esophageal and gastric cancer in Shanxi, China

Ying Gao et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Family history (FH) by different relative types and risk of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers has been only rarely reported; the data on UGI cancer survival are sparse.

Methods: 600 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases, 598 gastric cardia adenocarcinoma cases, and 316 gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma cases, and 1514 age-, gender-, and neighborhood-matched controls were asked for FH in first degree relatives and non-blood relatives. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from logistic regressions, and hazard ratios (HRs) from Cox proportional hazard regressions were estimated.

Results: Increased ESCC risk was associated with FH of any cancer (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.39-2.12), FH of any UGI cancer (OR = 2.28, 95%CI = 1.77-2.95) and FH of esophageal cancer (OR = 2.84, 95%CI = 2.09-3.86), but not FH of non-UGI cancer. Individuals with two or more affected first-degree relatives had 10-fold increased ESCC risk. FH of gastric cardia cancer was associated with an increased risk of all three cancers. Cancer in non-blood relatives was not associated with risk of any UGI cancer. FH of UGI cancer was associated with a poorer survival rate among younger ESCC cases (HR = 1.82, 95%CI = 1.01-3.29).

Conclusion: These data provide strong evidence that shared susceptibility is involved in esophageal carcinogenesis and also suggest a role in prognosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ESCC survival in cases by FH of UGI cancer. Log-Rank test P = 0.7286
Figure 2
Figure 2
ESCC survival in cases by FH of UGI cancer < 50 years old. Log-Rank test P = 0.0.0228
Figure 3
Figure 3
ESCC survival in cases by FH of UGI cancer ≥ 50 years old. Log-Rank test P = 0.4829
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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