Immunochemical Biological Markers and Hereditary Cancer Risk

The utilization of multiple biological markers in cancer may embellish the predictive value of any single marker. We have studied several putative biological markers of cancer risk (CEA, AFP, AHH, %T, %B lymphocytes, and immunoglobulins, IgA, IgM, IgG) in relatives at high genetic risk for cancer within a kindred manifesting the cancer family syndrome. Thirteen of the 19 individuals sampled were themselves unaffected progeny of affected direct genetic line parents. The remaining six individuals studied manifested cancer. In this report, we describe a method of derivation of an index utilizing results from five of the seven putative biological markers tested and the index scores were then obtained for each individual. The number of individuals manifesting a significant index score was compared with the number expected to carry the deleterious gene among the 13 unaffected progeny of affected parents. The observed number of aberrant index scores agrees precisely with that expected based upon gene segregation and the age distribution of the sample. The proposed index appears to provide predictability of cancer risk status in accord with mathematical expectations for a simple genetic model.