Family history of non-hematologic cancers among Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia patients: a preliminary study

Background: Little is known about the epidemiology and etiology of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM). Despite several studies of the relation between family history and B-cell disorders and WM, family history of non-hematologic cancers has not been systematically investigated. We thus examined associations of family history of breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, and prostate cancers with WM.

Methods: All probands aged 20-79 years with bone marrow biopsy-confirmed diagnosis of WM between May 1, 1999 and January 1, 2010 at the Bing Center for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. We reviewed medical records for eligible probands to determine family history of cancer (defined as a cancer diagnosis for ≥1 first-degree relative(s) of the proband). Using expected values constructed from the United States National Health Interview Survey, we estimated age- and race-standardized rate ratios (RRs) for family history of breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, and prostate cancers by WM subtype.

Results: Family history of prostate cancer had the largest overall rate ratio (RR=1.4, 95% confidence limits [CL]: 1.1, 1.7), and among sporadic cases, family history of prostate and breast cancer had the largest rate ratios (prostate: RR=1.3, 95% CL: 1.1, 1.7; breast: RR=1.3, 95% CL: 1.2, 1.6).

Conclusion: Our study suggests that it may be worthwhile to pursue these associations in a case-control study with uniform selection and data collection for cases and controls, and at least some record-based information on family history.