Hereditary breast cancer syndromes

Breast cancer represents a major public health problem in the world. According to the GLOBOCAN database, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and the most common cancer among women, accounting for an estimated 1,152,161 new cases each year and 411,093 cancer deaths per year (Fig. 4.1) [1]. In the United States, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women after lung cancer [2]. Recent trends in the incidence of female breast cancer have shown a sharp decrease during the period of 1999-2003. This can be partly explained by the increased utilization of screening mammography, better technologies that increase the sensitivity of detection suspicious abnormalities, and an overall reduction in the use of hormone replacement therapy (Fig. 4.2) [3]. Despite this recent decrease in breast cancer incidence, it is estimated that in the year 2007, more than 178,480 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States, with approximately 40,460 women dying from this disease. Of these, about 5-10% of the total breast cancer burden will be hereditary, having affected approximately 8,924-17,848 patients during 2007 [2].