Primal Health Databank: Study
| Entry No: | 0194 |
| Title: | Risk of breast and testicular cancers in young adult twins in England and Wales: evidence of prenatal and genetic aetiology |
| Author(s): | Swerdlow AJ, De Stavola BL, et al. |
| Reference: | Lancet 1997; 350: 1723-28 |
| Place of Study: | England and Wales |
| Abstract: | The authors identified 500 twins with breast cancer and 194 with testicular cancer. They found a non-significantly raised risk of breast cancer in dizygotic (non-identical) compared with monozygotic (identical) twins younger than 30 years but not older (odds ratio 2.3). The overall risk of testicular cancer was significantly higher in dizygotic twins than in monozygotic twins, (odds ratio for seminoma 3.2). Risk of breast cancer was significantly raised in twin sisters of those that had been diagnosed as having breast cancer. The relative risk of breast cancer was 34.7 in monozygotic twins of women in whom breast cancer had occurred before the age of 35 years. The relative risk of testicular cancer was 37.5 in twins of men with testicular cancer. The conclusion of the authors is that the higher risk of these cancers in dizygotic rather than monozygotic twins supports a prenatal aetiology, and are compatible with aetiology related to raised maternal oestrogens. |
| Keyword(s): | breast cancer, testicular cancer, twins |
| Discussion: | See other studies whose result support a prenatal aetiology, particularly entries 0026,0068 and 0071 |
| See Also: | No related entries mentioned for this entry |
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