Age at onset for familial epithelial ovarian cancer
C. I. Amos, G. L. Shaw, M. A. Tucker and P. Hartge
National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
OBJECTIVE--To provide age-specific risks for ovarian cancer for relatives
of ovarian cancer case patients. To characterize the age at onset for
ovarian cancer for women with a single relative vs several relatives
affected with ovarian cancer. DESIGN--Three previous studies were
reexamined. The cumulative probability of ovarian cancer in first-degree
relatives of women with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer
and matched control subjects who participated in the Cancer and Steroid
Hormone (CASH) Study was determined. The age of onset of ovarian cancer in
women with and without relatives with ovarian cancer in a Washington, DC,
case-control study was contrasted with that of women with at least two
first-degree relatives studied at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
RESULTS--The CASH Study data showed that first-degree relatives of women
with ovarian cancer had an increased risk for ovarian cancer, especially at
older ages, when compared with relatives of control subjects. However, the
median age at onset was the same among women in the Washington, DC, study
with and without an affected relative. Among the women with an extensive
family history of ovarian cancer studied at the NCI, the age at onset was
considerably younger (47 years) than is typical for this disease (59
years). Of these, 17% had been diagnosed as having primary ovarian cancer
by age 40 years. CONCLUSIONS--Women who have one first-degree relative
affected by ovarian cancer are at greater risk for ovarian cancer but not
at an age earlier than the general population. The small proportion of
women who have several affected relatives are, however, at a greater risk
of early onset of ovarian cancer. Prophylactic oophorectomy may be
reasonable for these women.
