Familial clustering of breast cancer: possible interaction between DNA repair proficiency and radiation exposure in the development of breast cancer.

The capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes to repair X-ray-induced DNA damage, manifest as chromatid damage 30-90 min after G2-phase X-irradiation, was measured among available members of a family exhibiting a cluster of breast-cancer cases occurring in one generation. The cancer patients had been exposed to repeated chest fluoroscopic examinations during early childhood and adolescence. The development of breast cancer was correlated with DNA repair proficiency and history of radiation exposure. The results of the family study provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that a deficiency in repair of X-irradiation DNA damage may be a susceptibility factor for the development of breast cancer. This hypothesis, however, requires confirmation in a larger study. Studying the combined effect of susceptibility factors and environmental exposures may enhance our knowledge of the etiology of breast cancer and provide leads for effective prevention strategies aimed at reducing exposures or altering susceptibility to unavoidable exposures.