Comparison of patients by family history with gastric and non-gastric cancer

Abstract

AIM:To compare the gastric cancer (GC) patients by their family history with gastric and non-GC. METHODS:Positive family histories within seconddegree relatives and clinicopathological features were obtained for 256 patients. RESULTS:Of the 256 probands, 112 (76 male, 36 female) were incorporated into familial GC (FGC) group: at least two GC members; 144 (98 male, 46 female) were included in the non-FGC group (relatives only affected with non-GCs). Of 399 tumors in relatives (181 from FGC against 212 from non-FGC), GC was the most frequent, followed by esophageal, hepatocellular, and colorectal cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer was next to lung cancer but prior to breast and urogenital cancers. Most affected members aggregated within first-degree relatives (FGC: 66 siblings, 48 fathers, 31 mothers, four offspring; non-FGC: 56 fathers, 55 siblings, 43 mothers, and 15 offspring). The ratio of males to females in affected first-degree relatives was usually higher in male probands. Paternal history of GC was a slight risk for GC in males (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.53-2.69), while risk of GC by maternal history of nonGCs was increased in females (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.22-0.97). Diffuse-GC was the major histological type in all subgroups. Difference in tumor sites between the two groups was derived from an excess of upper sites in non-FGC female probands. CONCLUSION:Distribution of associated non-GCs in a family history of GC may vary with geographic areas. GC may have different genetic and/or environmental etiology in different families, and a certain subtype may be inherited in a female-influenced fashion.

Intrafamilial aggregation of gastric cancer

“…In this study, a positive family history was significantly associated with intestinaltype GC, but not with diffuse-type GC (Tables 4 and 5), which is consistent with the findings of an Italian study [44]. However, the frequency of the histological type of GC, with respect to the family history of GC, has varied with different studies [45]. For example, one study reported familial clustering of hereditary diffuse GC in a large cohort of GC in Italy.…”

Family history of malignant neoplasm and its relation with clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer patients

“…Our study population from north of China had the highest amount of associated tumors in the esophagus (26.2%), followed by the stomach (23.8%). The report cited above, using GC patients from south of China, found notably different percentages of stomach- and esophagus-associated tumors (38.6% and 18.3%, respectively) [15]. In contrast, the study of Japanese GC patients found that 40.9% of associated tumors were located in the stomach [11], while the study of Italian GC patients found that only 21.9% of associated tumors were located in the stomach [10].…”

Family history and gastric cancer incidence and mortality in Asia: a pooled analysis of more than half a million participants

“…In addition, the association was more pronounced among those diagnosed with gastric cancer at a younger age and born later. There are several potential explanations for these results, one possibility is that these individuals may have a stronger genetic predisposition to gastric cancer, which is compounded by a common environment shared within the family [ 40 , 41 ].…”