Risk factors associated with the occurrence of breast cancer after bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy in high-risk women

Introduction: Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) is a common procedure for preventing breast and ovarian cancer in high-risk women. The goal of this study was to determine the incidence of subsequent breast cancer (BC) in a high-risk population and to identify clinical and epidemiological predictors of BC following BSO. Materials and methods: One hundred and thirty-three consecutive high-risk women, tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations due to family history, underwent preventive or therapeutic BSO at one of the study hospitals. One hundred and three patients had breast tissue at risk and were considered evaluable for the event-free survival analysis. Twenty-five women harbored a deleterious mutation in BRCA1 and 25 in BRCA2 genes. Results: Fifteen cases of invasive BC were diagnosed with a median interval of 49 months after BSO. Multivariate analysis showed that a prior BC after 50 years of age (p = 0.004), age over 50 years at the time of BSO (p = 0.005), and prior replacement or contraceptive hormonal treatment (p = 0.007) were significantly associated with a shorter event-free survival. Conclusion: In conclusion, age at prior diagnosis of cancer, age at BSO and prior hormonal treatment may be predictors of breast cancer after BSO.