Women of high risk for breast and ovarian cancer

Participants in this cohort are women identified from medical records and family records from the Department of Oncology , Lund. The inclusion criteria is that the woman should belong to families with a high risk of developing breast cancer as well as being known carriers of mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2, or be related in the first or second generation to an individual with breast cancer or individual without breast cancer who are carriers of mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2. Study participants must be under 40 years old and still be menstruating. “A family at high-risk for breast cancer” is considered if three women had been diagnosed with breast cancer and at least one of these was below age 50 years at diagnosis, or if two women had been diagnosed with breast cancer and at least one was below age 40 years at diagnosis, or if one woman diagnosed with breast cancer prior to age 30 years. The collection, which is still ongoing, started in 1996 and consisted of 300 cases in 2010. The selected women were contacted with a letter with information about the study and thereafter called and asked if they wanted to participate. A letter containing a comprehensive questionnaire was sent out to the women who had chosen to participate. The questions concerned areas such as fertility , breastfeeding, contraceptives, other medications, smoking and dietary issues. Participants were also called in for sampling and body measuremens (such as weight, length and different breast dimensions). Blood samples were taken on two occasions during the menstrual cycle : day 5-10 and ~ 18-23 days. Purpose: To study risk factors in young women of high risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Data collection is ongoing. In 2010, the study consisted of 300 cases.