Lack of heritability in ovarian germ cell malignancies.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to determine whether relatives of patients with ovarian germ cell malignancies not associated with sex chromosome abnormalities are at increased risk for similar tumors.


METHODS
We reviewed pedigrees of 78 presumptive 46,XX patients (ages ranging from newborn to 20 years) with malignant ovarian germ cell tumors, excluding cases of dysgerminoma and gonadoblastoma. A three-generation family history of each proband was reviewed specifically to identify cancer in any family member.


RESULTS
Seventy-eight mothers, 87 sisters, 135 aunts, and 156 grandmothers were surveyed. None had a malignant ovarian germ cell neoplasm or other malignant ovarian neoplasm.


CONCLUSIONS
First- and second-degree relatives of probands with ovarian germ cell malignancies do not have an increased risk for similar tumors. These findings were not predicted because of the well-recognized association of hereditary tumors and early age of onset.
Shulman
L P
LP
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, CA 21765.
Muram
D
D
Marina
N
N
Jones
C
C
Portera
J C
JC
Wachtel
S S
SS
Simpson
J L
JL
Elias
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000235:genetics*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010375:Pedigree