Tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1: a single- center retrospective study

To investigate the risk and pattern of tumors in italian neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) patients.

A retrospective single institution case review of 711 patients (seen between March 1992 and February 2018) with NF1 was conducted to identify individuals with diagnoses of both NF1 and neoplasm. NF1-associated tumors have been collected and analyzed.

We identified 221 tumors in 191 subjects with a percentage of 26.9%, diagnosed at a median age of 32.5 years (range, 0.6-70.1 years); 111 of these patients were females (58%) and all were fol-lowed up for a median of 5.3 years. The cumulative risks for tumor in patients with NF1 by the ages of 30 and 60 years were 10% and 42.5%, respectively. In our patients with tumor, overall survival at 70 years was significantly shorter than in those without it (50% vs 95%, P<0.0001). We found an unequivocally increased incidence for breast cancer in females (33 cases observed).

Tumors that develop in patients with NF1 are heterogeneous, our data are consistent with other reports suggesting an increase in some cancers risk among these individuals, therefore systematic medical follow-up in people with NF1 is important.