Lifestyle Factors and Breast Cancer in Females with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS)

Abstract

Simple Summary: Females with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) have very high hereditary breast cancer risks up to 76%. The aim of this European cohort study was to the describe the lifestyle in PHTS patients and to assess associations between physical activity, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, BMI and breast cancer in female adult PHTS patients. It was observed that of 125 patients who completed the questionnaire, 81% were >= 2 times/week physically active, 86% consumed on average <1 glass of alcohol/day, 78% never smoked and most patients were overweight or obese (72%). In total, 39 developed breast cancer (31%). No indications were found that associations between lifestyle and breast cancer in PHTS patients are different from the general population. These findings suggest that awareness about lifestyle among PHTS patients is important, as a healthier lifestyle could potentially decrease their breast cancer risk in a similar way as for the general population. Females with PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome (PHTS) have breast cancer risks up to 76%. This study assessed associations between breast cancer and lifestyle in European female adult PHTS patients. Data were collected via patient questionnaires (July 2020-March 2023) and genetic diagnoses from medical files. Associations between lifestyle and breast cancer were calculated using logistic regression corrected for age. Index patients with breast cancer before PHTS diagnosis (breast cancer index) were excluded for ascertainment bias correction. In total, 125 patients were included who completed the questionnaire at a mean age of 44 years (SD = 13). This included 21 breast cancer indexes (17%) and 39 females who developed breast cancer at 43 years (SD = 9). Breast cancer patients performed about 1.1 times less often 0-1 times/week physical activity than >= 2 times (ORtotal-adj = 0.9 (95%CI 0.3-2.6); consumed daily about 1.2-1.8 times more often >= 1 than 0-1 glasses of alcohol (ORtotal-adj = 1.2 (95%CI 0.4-4.0); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 1.8 (95%CI 0.4-6.9); were about 1.04-1.3 times more often smokers than non-smokers (ORtotal-adj = 1.04 (95%CI 0.4-2.8); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 1.3 (95%CI 0.4-4.2)); and overweight or obesity (72%) was about 1.02-1.3 times less common (ORtotal-adj = 0.98 (95%CI 0.4-2.6); ORnon-breastcancer-index-adj = 0.8 (95%CI 0.3-2.7)). Similar associations between lifestyle and breast cancer are suggested for PHTS and the general population. Despite not being statistically significant, results are clinically relevant and suggest that awareness of the effects of lifestyle on patients' breast cancer risk is important.