Deaths from Childhood Cancer in Sibs

Abstract

To clarify the extent to which childhood cancer aggregates in sibships, the death certificates for all (21,659) children under 15 years of age who died of cancer in the United States, 1960–64, were studied. The list was alphabetized according to the child's last name, and sibs were identified primarily by matching of the mothers' maiden names. The results revealed five pairs of like-sex twins with leukemia, all under six years of age. The occurrence of leukemia in five pairs of sibs other than twins did not exceed normal expectation. There were six pairs of sibs with brain tumors, well above the expected value of 0.4. The occurrence of brain tumor in one sib and cancer of bone or muscle in another (five families) may also be excessive. In five other sib pairs with cancer, no neoplasm was overrepresented, but in three the primary site was the same in both children.