Cancer incidence in families with multiple glioma patients

✍ Scribed by Niina Paunu; Eero Pukkala; Pekka Laippala; Risto Sankila; Jorma Isola; Helena Miettinen; Kalle O.J. Simola; Pauli Helén; Heikki Helin; Hannu Haapasalo

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 76 KB
• Volume: 97
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.10107

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Twenty‐four Finnish families with 2 or more glioma patients were identified through questionnaires sent to 369 consecutive glioma patients receiving surgery at Tampere University Hospital during 1983–94. To explore whether unusual cancer susceptibility is involved, the cancer risk of 2,664 family members was estimated using population‐based data from the Finnish Cancer Registry. Among the total cohort of relatives, 88 cancers were observed during 1953–97. The overall cancer risk among 12 families with juvenile onset gliomas was significantly decreased (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] 0.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.4–0.9). Among 12 families with adult onset gliomas, the overall cancer risk was equal to that of the reference population (SIR 1.1, 95% CI: 0.8–1.4) whereas the risk of skin melanoma (SIR 4.0, 95% CI: 1.5–8.8) and meningioma (SIR 5.5, 95% CI: 1.1–16) were significantly increased. Several other tumors, including those associated with neurofibromatosis 1 and 2, tuberous sclerosis and Li‐Fraumeni and Turcot syndromes were surveyed, but no elevated risks were observed. In conclusion, the presence of meningiomas and skin melanomas in glioma families may indicate a novel association as a cancer susceptibility trait. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.