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Estimating Individualized Risk of Breast Cancer

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Cancer Genetics for the Clinician

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Abstract

It is estimated1 that 179,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and that 44,000 will die from it. About one in eight women will develop breast cancer sometime in her life.2 Many women are therefore concerned about the risk of developing breast cancer, especially women with known risk factors such as a history of breast cancer in close relatives. The purpose of this paper is to review and compare two models for projecting the individualized risk of developing breast cancer over defined age ranges. One model,3 based on data from the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP), uses information on family history, age at menarche, age at first live birth, number of biopsies, and the presence of atypical hyperplasia. A second model by Claus, Risch, and Thompson,4 which we refer to as the “Claus model”, relies on detailed family history information, including age at breast cancer onset in affected relatives. Published tables5 based on that model cover individuals with at least one affected relative.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biostatistics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd., Room EPN 431, Rockville, MD, 20892, USA

    Mitchell H. Gail

  2. University of Rouen Medical School, Biostatistics Unit 1, rue de Germont, 76031, Rouen Cedex, France

    Jacques Benichou

Authors
  1. Mitchell H. Gail
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  2. Jacques Benichou
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Gail L. Shaw

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Gail, M.H., Benichou, J. (1999). Estimating Individualized Risk of Breast Cancer. In: Shaw, G.L. (eds) Cancer Genetics for the Clinician. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4699-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4699-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7128-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4699-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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