Familial leukemia. HLA system and leukemia predisposition in a family.

Four cases of acute lymphocytic leukemia occurred in a family comprising 30 members. Genetic and cytogenetic studies showed a possible linkage between an HLA haplotype and the leukemia predisposition that was suggested by site-directed chromosome rearrangements in cultured skin fibroblasts. The possession of genetic markers, other than HLA types, could not be linked to the occurrence of leukemia in the family. These findings suggest that the major histocompatibility complex or gene(s) linked to it may have played a part in the pathogenesis of the leukemic process in this family.