CHROMOSOMAL DISORDER AND NEOPLASTIC DISEASES IN A FAMILY WITH INHERITED FRAGILE-16 - CAUSALITY OR CASUALTY

We describe a family with an inherited fragile chromosome 16 with the concurrence of a constitutional chromosome abnormality, together with neoplastic pathology within the family. The following findings should be pointed out: in relation to the constitutional chromosome pathology , of the proband's 3 children, the eldest daughter was a carrier of th e fragile 16, the same as the father, and the second child, a son, had Down syndrome (trisomy 21). Regarding the tumoral pathology of this f amily, one of the proband's daughters died in childhood from acute lym phoblastic leukemia, whereas the proband developed two different malig nant hematologic disorders: a follicular lymphoma and an acute nonlymp hocytic leukemia (M5 type). Moreover, two independent acquired chromos ome disorders coexisted in the proband; each of these was related to o ne of the respective hematologic disorders.