The incidence of leukemia in families of patients with hypoplasia of the marrow.

By Sa’iicio GARRIGA AND WILLIAM H. CROSBY D URING A STUDY of splenectomy in patients with aplastic anemia25 it was noticed that among the families of these patients there appeared to be a high incidence of leukemia. It is recognized that leukemia itself sometimes occurs in families. The best resum#{233}of this problem is that of Guasch,23 who stated that among 8,586 cases of leukemia contributed by 81 hematologists, familial leukemia was found 39 times, a frequency of 4.54 per thousand. There also has been recognized a familial form of aplastic anemia known as Fanconi’s syndrome.’8 The syndrome is believed to be hereditary, and its transmission is attributed to a recessive gene, usually of rather low penetrance. Fanconi’s syndrome is a relatively rare condition; fewer than 70 cases have been recorded in the literature. However, among these few cases it has been recorded several times that leukemia, as well as other cases of aplastic anemia, had occurred in the families of the affected children.3’6’44 Because the incidence of leukemia seemed exceptionally great, a review of all case reports was carried out in order to learn, if possible, how often leukemia occurred in the families in which aplastic anemia was found.