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Multiple Myeloma, Gammopathies

Search for familial clustering of multiple myeloma with any cancer

Leukemia volume 30, pages 627–632 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a disease of immunoglobulin-producing plasma cells, which reside mainly in the bone marrow. Family members of MM patients are at a risk of MM, but whether other malignancies are in excess in family members is not established and is the aim of this study. MM patients (24 137) were identified from the Swedish Cancer Registry from years 1958 to 2012. Relative risks (RRs) were calculated for MM defined by any cancer diagnosed in first-degree relatives and compared with individuals whose relatives had no cancer. MM was reliably associated with relative’s colorectal, breast and prostate cancers, non-thyroid endocrine tumors, leukemia and cancer of unknown primary; in addition, MM was associated with subsites of bone and connective tissue tumors and of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma/Waldenström macroglobulinema (RR 3.47). MM showed a strong association (RR 1.91) in colorectal cancer families, possibly as part of an unidentified syndrome. All the associations of MM with discordant cancers are novel suggesting that MM shares genetic susceptibility with many cancers. The associations of MM bone and connective tissue tumors were supported by at least two independent results. Whether the results signal bone-related biology shared by MM and these tumors deserves further study.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Deutsche Krebshilfe and The German Ministry of Education and Science (Cliommics 01ZX1309B).

Author contributions

Design: KH. Acquisition of data: JS. Statistical analysis and interpretation: CF, TC, MF, KH and AF. Manuscript writing: KH and EKM. Approval of the final text: All authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Molecular Genetic Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

    C Frank, M Fallah, T Chen, A Försti & K Hemminki

  2. Department of Internal Medicine V, University Clinic of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    E K Mai

  3. Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    J Sundquist, A Försti & K Hemminki

  4. Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    J Sundquist

Authors
  1. C Frank
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  2. M Fallah
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  3. T Chen
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  4. E K Mai
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  5. J Sundquist
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  6. A Försti
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  7. K Hemminki
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Correspondence to K Hemminki.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on the Leukemia website

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Frank, C., Fallah, M., Chen, T. et al. Search for familial clustering of multiple myeloma with any cancer. Leukemia 30, 627–632 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2015.279

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