Familial cancer on a Scottish island

Abstract

When the causes of death were determined in 18 relations of a child with Fanconi's anaemia 10 deaths were found to be due to carcinoma of various organs. Cases of osteogenic sarcoma, leukaemia, and Marfan's syndrome were also discovered among relatives. The family was from a remote community in the Hebrides and there was considerable intermarriage. Suggestive evidence of heterozygosity was found by chromosome analysis. © 1976, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.