Evidence Hub

Association between risk-reducing surgeries and survival in young BRCA carriers with breast cancer: an international cohort study

E. Blondeaux, A. Sonnenblick, E. Agostinetto, R. Bas, H. J. Kim, M. Franzoi, R. Bernstein-Molho, S. Linn et al.

The Lancet Oncology, 2025

5,290 participants · 49 citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Little evidence exists on the effect of risk-reducing surgeries in young BRCA carriers with a previous history of breast cancer. We investigated the association between risk-reducing mastectomy (RRM) or risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), or both procedures, with survival outcomes in a large global cohort of young BRCA carriers with previous breast cancer.

METHODS

The BRCA BCY Collaboration is an international, hospital-based, retrospective cohort study, conducted at 109 centres in five continents, including women harbouring germline BRCA1, BRCA2, or both, pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants and diagnosed with stage I-III invasive breast cancer at the age of 40 years or younger between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2020. The primary objectives of the present analysis were to determine the association between RRM or RRSO and overall survival in young BRCA carriers with breast cancer. The primary endpoint was overall survival. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03673306.

FINDINGS

Between Jan 1, 2000 and Dec 31, 2020, 5290 patients were included, of whom 3361 (63·5%) patients were BRCA1 pathogenic variant carriers, 2708 (51·2%) had node-negative, and 2421 (45·8%) hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Of 5290 patients, 2910 (55·0%) underwent RRM, 2782 (52·6%) underwent RRSO. After a median follow-up of 8·2 years (IQR 4·7-12·8), RRM was associated with significantly better overall survival compared with no RRM (adjusted HR [aHR] 0·65, 95%…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 5,290 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free