Mothers with children who have cancer may be at increased risk of breast cancer, according to new research from the university of Manchester.
The breast cancer risks in mothers of other childhood cancers remain largely unknown and the reasons for the links are not understood.
The study, led by Dr Dong Pang, looked at the long-term incidence of breast cancer in mothers of 2,668 children in the Manchester children’s tumour registry, 1954-1996.
The number of instances of breast cancer was compared with the number of expected cases for women of a similar age across the UK.
The results showed an excess risk of breast cancer among mothers of children with solid tumours.
The risk was found not to be uniform across all groups, but associated with a small number of tumour types and patient characteristics, including for mothers of children with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissues.
Mothers were also more likely to develop breast cancer in cases where the child had skin cancer of a cancer affecting the central nervous system.
The researchers the increased risk might be associated with an abnormality of a gene called p53.
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