[Linkage analysis of hereditary cancer syndrome]

Linkage analysis using polymorphic DNA markers have played significant roles in identification of genes related to development of cancer. The genes associated with hereditary cancer syndromes are divided into three classes, oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and genes related to the DNA repair system. The majority of these genes have been isolated through the mapping of the disease loci by linkage analysis of a large number of affected kindreds. I summarize here the principle of linkage analysis as well as a history of polymorphic DNA markers, RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism), VNTR (variable number of tandem repeat), and microsatellite markers.