title: Genealogy of cancer in a family.
abstract: Three brothers had separate childhood cancers--osteogenic sarcoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and bilateral malignant neurilemoma. Comprehensive family history showed a total of 16 cases of cancer among the descendants of the proband's great-great-great-grandmother, including a previously unsuspected cluster of similar neoplasms in an distant branch. The constellation of tumors in the family included bony and soft-tissue sarcomas, brain and neural tumors, leukemia, and breast carcinoma, occurring in a pattern suggesting the action of an incompletely penetrant autosomal dominant gene with pleiotropic effects. In some cases the genetic predisposition may have interacted with environmental determinants to produce particular tumors.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D006801:Humans; D007890:Leiomyosarcoma / Q000235:genetics; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000235:genetics; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000235:genetics; D010375:Pedigree