This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Haile, R. W. Articles by Sparkes, R. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Haile, R. W. Articles by Sparkes, R. S.

A Linkage Analysis of D17S74 (CMM86) in Thirty-Five Families with Premenopausal Bilateral Breast Cancer¹

Department of Epidemiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 [R. W. H., V. K. C., R. M., C. C. A.]; Department of Biomathematics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 [S. I.]; Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Québec, Canada 47N 423 [L. R.]; Applied Medical Sciences, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine 04103 [W. D. T.]; Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90023 [A. P-H.]; Department of Pediatrics/Genetics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024 [R. S. S.]

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed

We report here results of a linkage analysis of a marker in 35 families in which the proband had premenopausal bilateral breast cancer. This group is of particular interest given their high family risk and the question of etiological heterogeneity. Probands were ascertained from cancer registries in Los Angeles County and Connecticut and major hospitals in Montréal and Québec. Assuming no residual heterogeneity and summing lod scores over all families, we obtained strong evidence against tight linkage (e.g., lod score at = 0.000001 is –3.39). To address the issue of heterogeneity, we performed admixture and predivided sample analyses. Using an admixture model we were able to reject the hypothesis of no linkage versus that of linkage with homogeneity (P = 0.045). However, we were unable to reject the hypothesis of no linkage versus linkage with heterogeneity (P = 0.119) or to distinguish between linkage with homogeneity and linkage with heterogeneity (P = 0.500). Predivided sample analyses based upon age of onset, pathological characteristics, time between diagnoses of the breast cancers in each bilateral proband, and the span of ages at diagnoses within a family did not discriminate between apparently linked and unlinked families.

¹ This work was supported by Grant 36386 from the National Cancer Institute.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received 8/13/92. Accepted 11/25/92.