Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Verkooijen, H. M.
Right arrow Articles by Bouchardy, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Verkooijen, H. M.
Right arrow Articles by Bouchardy, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Annals of Oncology 15:350-353, 2004
© 2004 European Society for Medical Oncology

Original Paper

Set-up of a population-based familial breast cancer registry in Geneva, Switzerland: validation of first results

Received 5 May 2003; accepted 23 October 2003

Background: This article evaluates the accuracy of family history of breast and ovarian cancer among first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients, retrospectively collected during the setting up of a population-based family breast cancer registry.

Patients and methods: Family histories of cancer for all women with breast cancer recorded at the Geneva Cancer Registry from 1990 to 1999 were retrospectively extracted from medical files. The accuracy of these family histories was validated among Swiss women born in Geneva: all 119 with a family history of breast (n = 110) or ovarian (n = 9) cancer and a representative sample of 100 women with no family history of breast or ovarian cancer. We identified the first-degree relatives of these women with information from the Cantonal Population Office. All first-degree relatives, resident in Geneva from 1970 to 1999, were linked to the cancer registry database for breast and ovarian cancer occurrence. Sensitivity, specificity and level of overall agreement ({kappa}) were calculated.

Results: Among 310 first-degree relatives identified, 61 had breast cancer and six had ovarian cancer recorded at the Geneva Cancer Registry. The sensitivity, specificity and {kappa} of the reported family histories of breast cancer were 98%, 97% and 0.97, respectively. For ovarian cancer, the sensitivity, specificity and {kappa} were 67%, 99%, and 0.66, respectively.

Conclusions: This study indicates that retrospectively obtained family histories are very accurate for breast cancer. For ovarian cancer, family histories are less precise and may need additional verification.

H. M. Verkooijen1, G. Fioretta1, P. O. Chappuis2,3, G. Vlastos4, A. P. Sappino2, S. Benhamou5 and C. Bouchardy1,*

1 Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, Geneva University, Geneva; Divisions of 2 Oncology and 3 Medical Genetics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; 5 INSERM and Evry University, Evry, France

Key words: breast cancer, familial cancer registry, ovarian cancer, population based, validation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JAMAHome page
H. J. Murff, D. R. Spigel, and S. Syngal
Does This Patient Have a Family History of Cancer?: An Evidence-Based Analysis of the Accuracy of Family Cancer History
JAMA, September 22, 2004; 292(12): 1480 - 1489.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.