Risk of breast cancer in transgender persons - a study of veterans

A study of breast cancer in transgender veterans has identified ten new cases, increasing the total number of published cases in both female-to-male and male-to-female transgender persons. Patient outcomes, use of cross-sex hormones, and recommendations for screening are presented in an article in LGBT Health, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the LGBT Health website until April 5, 2015.

In the article "Breast Cancer in Transgender Veterans: A Ten-Case Series," George R. Brown, MD, Quillen College of Medicine and Mountain Home Veterans Administration Medical Center (Johnson City, TN), reviewed Veterans Health Administration records from 1998-2013 and identified breast cancer cases affecting seven natal females and three natal males. Whereas the natal males had late-stage disease on diagnosis that proved fatal, earlier stage disease with a better prognosis was detected in the natal females.

"Breast cancer in transgender patients is rarely reported, and when it is, it is often in association with hormonal therapy and mentioned as a potential side effect of that therapy, particularly with estrogens," says LGBT Health Editor-in-Chief William Byne, MD, PhD, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, NY and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. "Cohorts of transgender and transsexual patients followed prospectively, however, have not led to the detection of an increased incidence relative to the general population.

Dr. Brown concludes that screening methods in place for non-transgender persons should be sensitively discussed with transgender persons - whether or not they have utilized hormonal therapy - and routinely provided by their clinicians."

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About the Journal

Spanning a broad array of disciplines, LGBT Health, published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, brings together the LGBT research, health care, and advocacy communities to address current challenges and improve the health, well-being, and clinical outcomes of LGBT persons. The Journal publishes original research, review articles, clinical reports, case studies, legal and policy perspectives, and much more. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the LGBT Health website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative medical and biomedical peer-reviewed journals, including AIDS Patient Care and STDs, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, Journal of Women's Health, and Population Health Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's more than 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.