Race/Ethnicity and Accuracy of Self-Reported Female First-Degree Family History of Breast and Other Cancers in the Northern California Breast Cancer Family Registry

Background: Few studies have evaluated accuracy of self-reported family history of breast and other cancers in racial/ethnic minorities. Methods: We assessed the accuracy of cancer family history reports by women with breast cancer (probands) from the Northern California Breast Cancer Family Registry compared with 2 reference standards: personal cancer history reports by female first-degree relatives and California Cancer Registry records. Results: Probands reported breast cancer in first-degree relatives with high accuracy, but accuracy was lower for other cancers. Sensitivity (percentage correctly identifying relatives with cancer) was 93% [95% confidence interval (CI), 89.5-95.4] when compared with the relatives' self-report of breast cancer as the reference standard and varied little by proband race/ethnicity and other demographic factors, except for marginally lower sensitivity for Hispanic white probands (87.3%; 95% CI, 78.0-93.1; P = 0.07) than non-Hispanic white probands (95.1%; 95% CI, 88.9-98.0). Accuracy was also high when compared with cancer registry records as the reference standard, with a sensitivity of 95.5% (95% CI, 93.4-96.9) for breast cancer, but lower sensitivity for Hispanic white probands (91.2%; 95% CI, 84.4-95.2; P = 0.05) and probands with low English language proficiency (80%; 95% CI, 52.8-93.5; P < 0.01). Conclusions: Non-Hispanic white, African American, and Asian American probands reported first-degree breast cancer family history with high accuracy, although sensitivity was lower for Hispanic white probands and those with low English language proficiency. Impact: Self-reported family history of breast cancer in first-degree relatives is highly accurate and can be used as a reliable standard when other validation methods are not available.