Determining the familial risk distribution of colorectal cancer: a data mining approach

This study was aimed to characterize the distribution of colorectal cancer risk using family history of cancers by data mining. Family histories for 10,066 colorectal cancer cases recruited to population cancer registries of the Colon Cancer Family Registry were analyzed using a data mining framework. A novel index was developed to quantify familial cancer aggregation. Artificial neural network was used to identify distinct categories of familial risk. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and corresponding 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of colorectal cancer were calculated for each category. We identified five major, and 66 minor categories of familial risk for developing colorectal cancer. The distribution the major risk categories were: (1) 7 % of families (SIR = 7.11; 95 % CI 6.65–7.59) had a strong family history of colorectal cancer; (2) 13 % of families (SIR = 2.94; 95 % CI 2.78–3.10) had a moderate family history of colorectal cancer; (3) 11 % of families (SIR = 1.23; 95 % CI 1.12–1.36) had a strong family history of breast cancer and a weak family history of colorectal cancer; (4) 9 % of families (SIR = 1.06; 95 % CI 0.96–1.18) had strong family history of prostate cancer and weak family history of colorectal cancer; and (5) 60 % of families (SIR = 0.61; 95 % CI 0.57–0.65) had a weak family history of all cancers. There is a wide variation of colorectal cancer risk that can be categorized by family history of cancer, with a strong gradi...
Source: Familial Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research