SINGAPORE:
A study by the National Cancer Centre
Singapore (NCCS) has shown that family history of breast cancer is a strong
indicator of breast cancer risk among local women.
A
history of at least one affected immediate relative (for example, a mother,
daughter or sister) is twice as important for breast cancer risk in Singapore
women relative to Western women.
The
study also showed that the Gail Model - a standard model used in Western
populations to predict individual risk of breast cancer - was inaccurate in the
local population.
Dr Chay
Wen Yee, one of the researchers said: "Our study showed that the Gail
Model over-estimated the risk of breast cancer among local women. This shows
that methods used to predict risk of breast cancer in the West do not provide
accurate estimates in our setting."
Dr Tan
Min-Han, a medical oncologist and cancer geneticist, said: "These study
findings mean that local doctors must place a greater emphasis on family
history to accurately predict a woman's risk for breast cancer, and indeed, for
any cancer.
"A
carefully taken family history is a cheap, proven and easily available method
to determine proper timing and intensity of cancer screening, and remains the
gold standard for establishing risk in patients."
The
study involved patients between 50 and 64 years of age who were screened in the
Singapore Breast Cancer Screening Project (SBCSP), a large scale prospective
community mammography screening program that took place in 1994.
Some
28,000 women were initially screened with mammograms. Over time, the number of
observed breast cancer cases were derived and compared to what would have been
expected in terms of the Gail Model.
The
study focused on evaluating whether the Gail Model was useful in predicting
risk in the Singapore population.
The
study, which was recently published in the top breast cancer journal
"Breast Cancer Research", evaluated for the first time the
association between breast cancer incidence and established risk factors in a
large prospective study in Asia.
The
results will have bearing on advising local women on personal breast cancer
risk, as well as decisions on when to initiate medications for breast cancer
prevention.
Breast
cancer is the most common type of cancer among Singapore women. From 1968 to
2007, Singapore showed an almost threefold increase in breast cancer incidence.
Between
2006 and 2010, 7,781 cases were detected and accounted for 29.3 per cent of all
cancers affecting Singaporean women.
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CNA/cc
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