Chromosome studies in familial leukaemia.

The finding of an inherited chromosome abnormality (Chl) in several members of a family, including two who had developed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (Gunz, Fitzgerald, and Adams, i962), led to the suggestion that this abnormality predisposed its carriers to the development of the disease, and that inherited cytogenetic abnormalities of this type might determine some instances of familial leukaemia. In an attempt to test this hypothesis we have now made chromosome investigations of a further ii families with leukaemia, or leukaemia and a related neoplastic disorder, in two or more first-degree relatives.