The nation-wide Swedish family-cancer database--updated structure and familial rates

The Swedish Family-Cancer Database was expanded to include all Swedes born in 1932 and later (offspring) with their parents, totaling 10.2 million individuals. Cancer cases were retrieved from the Swedish Cancer Registry from the years 1958 to 1998, including over 1 million primary cancers and in situ tumors. Some 10%, of offspring diagnosed with cancer lack any parental information. Incidence rates of cancers were similar in the database and in the Cancer Registry to age 70, but at higher ages the rates in the Database were lower, probably because of selection. The familial risk for all types of cancer in offspring was 1.73 when a parent had the same type of cancer. The familial rates were increased for all main cancer sites, except for the upper aerodigestive tract, stomach, liver, pancreas and bone marrow (leukemia). The rates were 7.47 for thyroid, 4.69 for testis, and over 2.00 for melanoma, ovary, prostate, skin, endocrine glands and endometrium.