Very high risk of cancer in familial Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) is an autosomal dominant polyposis disorder with increased risk of multiple cancers, but literature estimates of risk vary.

METHODS: We performed an individual patient meta-analysis to determine the relative risk (RR) of cancer in patients with PJS compared with the general population based on 210 individuals described in 6 publications.

RESULTS: For patients with PJS, the RR for all cancers was 15.2 (95% confidence limits [CL], 2, 19). A statistically significant increase of RR was noted for esophagus (57; CL, 2.5, 557), stomach (213; CL, 96, 368), small intestine (520; CL, 220, 1306), colon (84; CL, 47, 137), pancreas (132; CL, 44, 261), lung (17.0; CL, 5.4, 39), breast (15.2; CL, 7.6, 27), uterus (16.0; CL, 1.9, 56), ovary (27; CL, 7.3, 68), but not testicular or cervical malignancies. Cumulative risk for all cancer was 93% from age 15 to 64 years old.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PJS are at very high relative and absolute risk for gastrointestinal and nongastrointestinal cancers.