Mortality and cancer incidence in males with Y polysomy in Britain: a cohort study

The mortality and cancer incidence risks among males with Y polysomy are unknown because there have been no large long-term cohort studies carried out of such men. We conducted a cohort study of 667 men diagnosed with the abnormality in Britain since 1959 to compare their mortality and cancer incidence rates with those of the general population. Sixty deaths occurred during follow-up to December 2005, twice the number expected from general population rates (standardised mortality ratio (SMR) = 2.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-2.6)). Significantly raised mortality was observed for diseases of the nervous system (SMR = 7.0, 95% CI: 2.3-16.4), circulatory system (SMR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.3-3.2), respiratory system (SMR = 4.0, 95% CI: 1.8-7.5), genitourinary system (SMR = 10.2, 95% CI: 1.2-36.9), and congenital anomalies (SMR = 11.9, 95% CI: 3.2-30.5). Four of the five nervous system deaths were from epilepsy, the risk of death from this condition being more than 20-fold raised. The rates of cancer incidence and mortality among these men was not significantly different from those in the general population. This study provides evidence that mortality rates from several specific causes are raised among men with Y polysomy. The use of these data in genetic counselling should be cautious particularly for cases of Y polysomy that are detected prenatally. Further investigations are required to confirm these findings and to elucidate the possible role of genes on the Y chromosome in the aetiology of these causes of death.