Chromosome studies in a “cancer family”

Abstract

A family with a high incidence of malignant disease has been followed for 11 years. Thirty‐seven of the 405 members of the family have had some type of malignant process. The most common types of malignancy were carcinoma of the breast, sarcoma, and acute leukemia. Cytogenetic studies were performed on the peripheral blood of 27 members of the family. Increased numbers of abnormal chromosomes were not consistently seen, although some members of the family seemed to have more aneuploidy than would be expected from studies of the general population. One member of the family had chromosome studies before and after developing acute leukemia, and was found to have a mode of 46 chromosomes before leukemia developed and a mode of 45 chromosomes in the peripheral blood and bone marrow after acute leukemia had developed. Examination of the family tree indicates that the predisposition to develop malignancies is probably inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. There is no evidence as to the mechanism by which this takes place, although the cytogenetic studies carried out on the one family member prior to and after the development of acute leukemia suggest that the malignant cells in this individual were associated with an abnormal number of chromosomes. Copyright © 1971 American Cancer Society