title: Prevalence of the Rhesus-negative phenotype in Caucasian patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).
abstract: We report that the Rhesus (Rh)-negative phenotype is more prevalent in patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) than in the normal Caucasian population (SCLC: 25% Rh-negative vs. 15% expected, p less than 0.0001). This finding has been validated for a Central and a Northern European population (Switzerland and UK). In contrast, the Rh-negative phenotype is no more frequent in non-small-cell lung cancer patients or in heavy smokers with coronary heart disease than in the general population. There was a normal distribution of the ABO blood group phenotype in all patients studied. Whilst the significance of this observation is unclear, we hypothesize that a genetic predisposition to the development of SCLC may be linked to a hitherto unidentified gene on chromosome 1p near the Rh locus. Our observation may perhaps allow further progress to be made in understanding genetic mechanisms of SCLC carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Oncology, Inselspital, Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cerny
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Fey
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oppliger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castiglione
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nachbur
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gertsch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasser
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Joss
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thatcher
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lind
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D010641:Phenotype; D015995:Prevalence; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System