New heritable fragile site on chromosome 8 induced by distamycin A

A possible new heritable fragile site at band 8q24.1, which is known to be a breakpoint in various cancers and contains the c-myc locus, was found in the lymphocytes from a woman with mastopathy. This fragile site was induced by distamycin A treatment, and expressed as gaps and breaks in 18% of the metaphases examined. The lymphocytes from one of her two sons examined also revealed gaps or breaks at the same site of chromosome 8 in 34% of the metaphases. This fragile 8q24.1 band is considered to be a new heritable fragile site induced by distamycin A.