The Double Take: Does Age, Parity, Ethnicity, or Race Matter in the Risk of a Second Breast Cancer
Researchers from Stanford University performed the study on 9639 women with their first primary breast cancer, stage I-III. Unlike prior studies, the population studied was racially the population studied was racially and ethnically diverse. In younger women, those less than 50, a higher contralateral breast cancer risk was associated with ER\PR-negative 1st breast cancer with a hazard ratio of 1.68. The same group who had not previously had a full-term pregnancy also had an increased risk of second breast cancers with a hazard ratio of 1.37. In women greater than or equal to 50, a higher risk was associated with a breast cancer family history (HR = 1.32 ). In this group of women over 50 those having had a pre-menopausal breast cancer also had an increased risk of a second cancer (HR = 1.49 ). In postmenopausal women being overweight and having a higher alcohol consumption also increased the risk of second breast cancers. The authors of the paper also looked at the risk of not being a non-Hispanic white woman and found no change in risk elevation after adjustment for these ethnic risk factors.
The authors concluded that their study supported genetic risk evaluation, enhanced screening and lifestyle changes in women at high risk of second breast cancers as determine in this study. They suggested that additional risk factors must contribute to the unlevel burden of second breast cancers, across, racial, and ethnic groups.
JOHN, EM at al. General of the national Cancer Institute, October 11, 2024.
– Alan Stolier
Dr. Alan Stolier, MD, FACS, clinical breast oncologist, shares his expert medical perspective with a series of educational and scientific articles.