Brief Articles
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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2009; 15(21): 2644-2650
Published online Jun 7, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.2644
Comparison of patients by family history with gastric and non-gastric cancer
Xue-Fu Zhou, Yu-Long He, Wu Song, Jian-Jun Peng, Chang-Hua Zhang, Wen Li, Hui Wu
Xue-Fu Zhou, Yu-Long He, Wu Song, Jian-Jun Peng, Chang-Hua Zhang, Wen Li, Hui Wu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Zhou XF and He YL contributed equally to this work; Zhou XF, He YL, Song W, Peng JJ and Zhang CH designed the research; Zhou XF, Song W, Peng JJ and Zhang CH performed the research; Zhou XF, He YL, Li W and Wu H analyzed data; Zhou XF and He YL wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Yu-Long He, Professor, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, Guangdong Province, China. ylh@medmail.com.cn
Telephone: +86-20-87755766
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Received: March 23, 2009
Revised: April 30, 2009
Accepted: May 7, 2009
Published online: June 7, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To compare the gastric cancer (GC) patients by their family history with gastric and non-GC.

METHODS: Positive family histories within second-degree 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 non-GCs 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.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Family history; Familial gastric cancer; Familial predisposition; Female-influenced fashion