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- Title
Association Between BRCA1 Mutations and Ratio of Female to Male Births in Offspring of Families With Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, or Both.
- Authors
de la Hoya, Miguel; Fernández, Juan M.; Tosar, Alicia; Godino, Javier; Sánchez de Abajo, Ana; Vidart, Jose A.; Pérez-Segura, Pedro; Díaz-Rubio, Eduardo; Caldés, Trinidad
- Abstract
Context: Defects in X-chromosome inactivation distort sex ratio in mice. The BRCA1 gene is also involved in X-chromosome inactivation, suggesting the possibility that some sex-ratio distortion may be associated with BRCA1-related human cancer syndromes. Objective: To determine whether BRCA1 mutations are associated with distortion of the sex ratio of births in families with breast cancer, ovarian cancer, or both. Design and Setting: Analysis of germline mutations in participants from Spain who had been screened for BRCA between 1998 and 2002. Participants: Sixty-eight families with at least 3 breast cancer cases or ovarian cancer cases, or both types of cancer in 2 generations (germline mutations: BRCA1, n = 17; BRCA2, n = 15; and BRCA unrelated, n = 36). An average of 4 relatives per family were tested for the corresponding BRCA mutation. Main Outcome Measure: Male and female births registered in breast and/or ovarian pedigrees tested for the presence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutations. Results: Of BRCA1-related breast and/or ovarian cancer pedigrees, there was a 2-fold excess of female births (218 female vs 109 male births). Of BRCA2-related or BRCA-unrelated breast and/or ovarian cancer pedigrees, there was not an excess of female births (175 female/150 male and 344 female/315 male, respectively). Of 327 BRCA1 births, 218 (67%) were female births compared with 54% among BRCA2 pedigrees (175/327; P<.001) and 52% among BRCA-unrelated pedigrees (344/659; P<.001). Female births increased in the offspring of BRCA1 carriers compared with BRCA2 carriers (67% vs 52%; P = .004). Conclusion: In these families with breast and/or ovarian cancer, mutations in BRCA1 but not BRCA2 were associated with a sex ratio skewed against male births.
- Subjects
GENETICS; CHROMOSOMES; CANCER; GENETIC mutation; BREAST cancer
- Publication
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003, Vol 290, Issue 7, p929
- ISSN
0098-7484
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1001/jama.290.7.929