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Background: Genetic screening for pathogenic variants (PVs) in cancer predisposition genes can affect treatment strategies, risk prediction and preventive measures for patients and families. For decades, hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) has been attributed to PVs in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, and more recently other rare alleles have been firmly established as associated with a high or moderate increased risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. Here, we assess the genetic variation and tumor characteristics in a large cohort of women with suspected HBOC in a clinical oncogenetic setting. Methods: Women with suspected HBOC referred from all oncogenetic clinics in Sweden over a six-year inclusion period were screened for PVs in 13 clinically relevant genes. The genetic outcome was compared with tumor characteristics and other clinical data collected from national cancer registries and hospital records. Results: In 4622 women with breast and/or ovarian cancer the overall diagnostic yield (the proportion of women carrying at least one PV) was 16.6%. BRCA1/2 PVs were found in 8.9% of women (BRCA1 5.95% and BRCA2 2.94%) and PVs in the other breast and ovarian cancer predisposition genes in 8.2%: ATM (1.58%), BARD1 (0.45%), BRIP1 (0.43%), CDH1 (0.11%), CHEK2 (3.46%), PALB2 (0.84%), PTEN (0.02%), RAD51C (0.54%), RAD51D (0.15%), STK11 (0) and TP53 (0.56%). Thus, inclusion of the 11 genes in addition to BRCA1/2 increased diagnostic yield by 7.7%. The yield was, as expected, significantly higher in certain subgroups such as younger patients, medullary breast cancer, higher Nottingham Histologic Grade, ER-negative breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and high grade serous ovarian cancer. Age and tumor subtype distributions differed substantially depending on genetic finding. Conclusions: This study contributes to understanding the clinical and genetic landscape of breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility. Extending clinical genetic screening from BRCA1 and BRCA2 to 13 established cancer predisposition genes almost doubles the diagnostic yield, which has implications for genetic counseling and clinical guidelines. The very low yield in the syndrome genes CDH1, PTEN and STK11 questions the usefulness of including these genes on routine gene panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Approximately 30 % of all breast cancer is at least partly attributed to hereditary factors. Familial breast cancer is often inherited in the context of cancer syndromes. The most commonly mutated genes are BRCA1 and BRCA2 in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome. The genetic background in families with hereditary breast cancer without predisposing germ line mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (non-BRCA families) is still to a large extent unclear even though progress has been made. The aim of this study was to compare cancer proportions in familial non-BRCA hereditary breast cancer compared to the general population in search of putative new breast cancer syndromes. Methods: Pedigrees from 334 non-BRCA hereditary breast cancer families in the county of Stockholm, Sweden, were investigated and the distribution of cancer diagnoses other than breast cancer was compared with the distribution of cancer diagnoses in the general Swedish population in two reference years, 1970 and 2010. A cancer diagnosis was regarded as overrepresented in the non-BRCA families if the confidence interval was above both population reference values. Results: We found that endometrial cancer was overrepresented in the non-BRCA families with a 6.36 % proportion (CI 4.67-8.2) compared to the proportion in the general population in the reference years 1970 (3.07 %) and 2010 (2.64 %). Moreover tumours of the ovary, liver, pancreas and prostate were overrepresented. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found an overrepresentation of endometrial cancer in our cohort of hereditary non-BRCA families. Our result supports previous inconsistent reports of a putative breast and endometrial cancer syndrome. An association has been suggested in studies of families with several cases of breast cancer in close relatives or bilateral breast cancer. To clarify this issue we suggest further studies on a breast and endometrial cancer syndrome in cohorts with a strong pattern of hereditary breast cancer. Identifying new breast cancer syndromes is of importance to improve genetic counselling for women at risk and a first step towards detection of new susceptibility genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical course of breast reconstruction in patients with personal and family history of breast cancer undergoing contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) and elucidate the association between reoperation risk and adjuvant treatment. Methods. A descriptive retrospective study of a consecutive series of breast cancer patients who underwent CPM with breast reconstruction at Karolinska University Hospital between 1998 and 2008 was performed. Reoperation was chosen as an outcome variable assessing morbidity and thus documented for each patient and for each reconstructed breast. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate the risk of reoperation after bilateral breast reconstruction. Results. Ninety-one patients underwent CPM during the study period. Their mean age at CPM was 45.3 years (SD =9.4). No contralateral breast cancer was diagnosed after CPM during the median follow-up period of 3.9 years. All women, but two, received an implant based breast reconstruction. The majority (n =75, 82%) underwent CPM with concurrent bilateral breast reconstruction. Overall, after bilateral breast reconstruction 45/75 (60%) required at least one reoperation on the CPM side (n =2, 3%), therapeutic mastectomy (TM) side (n =17, 23%) or both sides (n =26, 33%). In the paired analyses, the probability of reoperation was significantly higher after TM reconstruction as compared to CPM (0.57 vs. 0.37, p =0.001). The mean number of reoperations required for completion of TM and CPM reconstruction was 0.84 and 0.49, respectively (p =0.003). Among all potential risk factors, only radiotherapy was associated with reoperation after bilateral breast reconstruction (odds ratio [OR]: 4.2, 95% CI, 1.3 to 13.6, p =0.015). Conclusions. Breast reconstruction in patients with personal and family history of breast cancer is a complex operation. This study found that the clinical course after bilateral breast reconstruction was predominantly affected by reoperations on the TM side and given radiotherapy was associated with reoperation. Further studies are necessary to examine the possible predictors of unanticipated reoperations in candidates for CPM with breast reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA2) are believed to be responsible for a significant fraction of hereditary breast cancer. To determine the BRCA2 mutation spectrum in a subset of Swedish breast cancer families, 162 families were screened for germline mutations in this gene. A combination of RT-PCR, PTT and direct DNA sequencing was used. Two mutations and one previously reported polymorphic variant resulting in a truncated protein were identified. Our data suggest that only a small proportion of Swedish breast cancer families is attributable to BRCA2 germline mutations. This result, in combination with the low frequency of BRCA1 germline mutations identified in our previous study, suggests additional high penetrant as well as low penetrant breast cancer susceptibility genes are involved in familial breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The Pre-Operative MRI of the Breast (POMB) trial was a randomized, prospective, multicenter trial evaluating the impact of pre-operative breast MRI on treatment regimens and short-term surgical outcomes in women up to 56 years of age with breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of pre-operative breast MRI in the POMB trial with respect to incremental MRI findings - over conventional breast imaging methods - and their concordance with histopathology., Patients and Methods: Two-hundred and ten patients (n = 210) participating in the POMB trial underwent pre-operative breast MRI at two Swedish breast units. Positive predictive values (PPV) for the incremental MRI findings were calculated for three subgroups of patients with: 1. alteration/alterations of treatment plan; 2. no alteration of treatment plan; and, 3. MRI-related conversion from BCS to mastectomy. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated using in-breast BI-RADS based ratings for the whole MRI group., Results: After exclusions a total number of 99 incremental findings in 78 patients were eligible for statistical analysis resulting in a PPV = 74%: (95% CI 60-84%) in 39 patients with MRI related alterations of initial treatment plans and 27%: (95% CI 14-44%) in 39 patients without. Positive predictive values of incremental findings decisive for specific treatment alteration/s were 83% (95% CI 68-92%) in patients with any alteration of initial treatment plans and 91% (95% CI 70-98%) for patients (n = 20/22) with conversion from breast conserving surgery to mastectomy. The empirical AUC for the incremental findings in the whole MRI group was 85% (95% CI 78-91%)., Conclusion: Breast MRI, performed and evaluated together with conventional breast imaging methods can provide relevant information at a high degree of accuracy in the pre-operative setting., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of different screening modalities in women with a family history of breast cancer., Methods: Our blinded, prospective, comparative cohort analysis included three types of screening, mammography, ultrasound, and clinical breast examination once per year for 6 years. Eligible patients for this study were healthy women with ≥ 17% lifetime risk of breast cancer or with a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2., Results: A total of 632 women were screened between 2002 and 2012 (each for 6 years). During the study, 30 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, with 10 of these diagnoses occurring between screening visits, and six of the 10 diagnosed women were gene carriers. The clinical presentation for the women diagnosed with breast cancer was followed until 2017. No consistent patterns for the diagnostic capacity of the different screening modalities were found, although mammography showed low sensitivity, whereas ultrasound showed better sensitivity in three of the six rounds. The specificity was high in mammography and improved in ultrasound over time. Most importantly, clinical breast examination provided no additional information toward the diagnosis of breast cancer., Conclusion: Neither mammography nor ultrasound performed yearly were sensitive enough as standalone modalities, although high specificity was confirmed. Our findings indicate that high risk (> 29% life time risk) individuals and gene carriers can be screened biannually, using the same protocol as used in mutation carriers. Our results also suggest that low-risk groups (< 20%) may continue to be referred to population mammography screening program, while clinical breast examination may be omitted in all risk groups, and could be optional in gene carriers.

Increased demand for genetic counseling services necessitates exploring alternatives to in-person counseling. Telephone counseling is a less time-consuming and more cost-effective alternative. So far there is insufficient evidence to support a pre-counseling telephone model. This randomized questionnaire study aims to evaluate the oncogenetic counseling process and to compare the impact of the initial part of the oncogenetic counseling, when conducted via telephone versus in-person. The aspects of evaluations were: patients' expectations, satisfaction and experiences of genetic counseling, worry for developing hereditary cancer and health related quality of life. A total of 215 participants representing several cancer syndromes were randomized to counseling via telephone or in-person. The questionnaires were completed before and after oncogenetic nurse counseling, and 1 year after the entire counseling process. Overall, a high satisfaction rate with the oncogenetic counseling process was found among the participants regardless of whether the oncogenetic nurse counseling was conducted by telephone or in-person. The results show that a considerable number of participants experienced difficulties with the process of creating a pedigree and dissatisfaction with information on surveillance and prevention. Affected participants reported lower levels in most SF-36 domains compared to non-affected and both groups reported lower levels as compared to a Swedish reference group. The results indicate that telephone pre-counseling works as well as in-person counseling. Emotional support during genetic counseling and information on recommended cancer prevention and surveillance should be improved.

Background/objective: This study attempted a national inventory of all bilateral prophylactic mastectomies performed in Sweden between 1995 and 2005 in high-risk women without a previous breast malignancy. The primary aim was to investigate the breast cancer incidence after surgery. Secondary aims were to describe the preoperative risk assessment, operation techniques, complications, histopathological findings, and regional differences., Methods: Geneticists, oncologists and surgeons performing prophylactic breast surgery were asked to identify all women eligible for inclusion in their region. The medical records were reviewed in each region and the data were analyzed centrally. The BOADICEA risk assessment model was used to calculate the number of expected/prevented breast cancers during the follow-up period., Results: A total of 223 women operated on in 8 hospitals were identified. During a mean follow-up of 6.6 years, no primary breast cancer was observed compared with 12 expected cases. However, 1 woman succumbed 9 years post mastectomy to widespread adenocarcinoma of uncertain origin. Median age at operation was 40 years. A total of 58% were BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. All but 3 women underwent breast reconstruction, 208 with implants and 12 with autologous tissue. Four small, unifocal, invasive cancers and 4 ductal carcinoma in situ were found in the mastectomy specimens. The incidence of nonbreast related complications was low (3%). Implant loss due to infection/necrosis occurred in 21 women (10%) but a majority received a new implant later. In total, 64% of the women underwent at least 1unanticipated secondary operation., Conclusions: Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy is safe and efficacious in reducing future breast cancer in asymptomatic women at high risk. Unanticipated reoperations are common. Given the small number of patients centralization seems justified.