Skip to main content

Impact of Cancer Predisposing Variants on Mortality Examined in Survivors

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Oct. 24, 2023 -- Childhood cancer survivors who are carriers of cancer predisposing variants have increased subsequent malignant neoplasm-related late mortality, according to a study published in the October issue of The Lancet Oncology.

Cheng Chen, from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and colleagues used data from two retrospective cohort studies -- St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) -- with prospective follow-up of patients alive for at least five years after diagnosis of childhood cancer with corresponding germline whole genome or whole exome sequencing data. Cancer predisposing variants affecting 60 genes that were linked to autosomal-dominant cancer-predisposition syndromes were characterized.

A total of 12,469 participants were included: 4,402 from SJLIFE and 8,067 from CCSS. The researchers found that 5.1 percent of the participants had cancer predisposing variants (6.7 and 4.3 percent in the SJLIFE and CCSS cohorts, respectively), which were significantly associated with increased severity of subsequent malignant neoplasms. Overall, there were 263 (2.1 percent) and 426 (3.4 percent) subsequent neoplasm-related and other-cause deaths, respectively. At 10 years after the first biospecimen collection, cumulative subsequent malignant neoplasm-related mortality was 3.7 and 6.9 percent in SJLIFE and CCSS carriers of cancer predisposing variants, respectively, versus 1.5 and 2.1 percent in noncarriers. The risk for subsequent neoplasm-related mortality was increased in association with carrying a cancer predisposing variant (subdistribution hazard ratios, 3.40 and 3.58 in SJLIFE and CCSS, respectively).

"These results have crucial implications on the provision of genetic counselling and testing and on informing future clinical recommendations for precision medicine for this growing population," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Editorial

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

AI-Assisted Contours Superior to Cognitively Defined Prostate Cancer Contours

WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 -- Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted definition of prostate cancer contours reduces underestimation of the extent of prostate cancer, according to a...

Vaginal Cancer Incidence Increasing Globally

WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 -- The incidence of vaginal cancer is increasing globally, according to a study published online June 25 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics...

Mean Cost of Bringing New Drug to U.S. Market Is $879.3 Million

TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- The mean cost of developing a new drug for the U.S. market is estimated to be $879.3 million when both drug development failure and capital costs are...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.