The Problem of Tumor Heredity in Man. 4°. Multiple Tumors

Abstract

The tumor incidence among the relatives of 106 patients with multiple malignant tumors (probands) and 106 without tumors (controls) was studied. The probands, 52 males and 54 females, had an average of 53.9 years at the time of the first tumor, and 60.3 years at the time of the second tumor. There were two tumors in 101 cases, and three tumors in 5 cases. In this series, patients with multiple tumors of the same organs were not included. A total of 1634 relatives of the probands and 1586 of the controls were examined. Informations of the following categories of relatives were collected: father and mother, brothers and sisters, paternal and maternal grandparents, paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, sons. One or more subjects with malignant tumors were found in 69 of the 106 families of the probands (65.1%), and in 38 of the 106 families of the controls (35.8%). Of the 1634 relatives of the probands, 112 (6.9%) had a malignant tumor, while there were 59 (2.7%) relatives with tumors among the 1586 relatives of the controls. This difference of tumor incidence was still greater in the parents and brothers. There was no correlation between the family incidence of tumors and the various type of tumors observed in the probands. A comparison between probands with « exogenous » tumors and those with « endogenous » tumors showed no significant differences in the family tumor incidence.