Familial risks for cervical tumors in full and half siblings: etiologic apportioning

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Jul;15(7):1413-4. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0933.

Abstract

Many studies have shown familial aggregation for cervical cancer, but they have been unable to distinguish between shared environmental and genetic effects. Full and half-siblings were identified from the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database, including invasive and in situ cervical cancers in women up to age 70 years. Half-siblings were defined through a common father or mother. Standardized incidence ratios, adjusted for several variables, were calculated for proband-wise risks between full and half-siblings. The familial risk for full siblings was 1.84, compared with 1.40 for maternal and 1.27 for paternal half-siblings. These data were used to apportion familial risk for cervical tumors in full siblings into a heritable component, accounting for 64%, and an environmental component, accounting for 36% of the total risk. No evidence for gene-environment interactions was found. The intractable difficulty in separating cervical cancer causation will be an obstacle for a successful identification of susceptibility genes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Carcinoma in Situ / epidemiology
  • Carcinoma in Situ / etiology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Environment
  • Family
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
  • Risk Factors
  • Siblings*
  • Sweden / epidemiology
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / etiology
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / genetics*