The cystic fibrosis delta F508 gene mutation and cancer

Following the observation that relatives of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients have an increased mortality due to leukaemia, a study was initiated to determine whether leukaemia patients had an increased prevalence of the delta F508 CF mutation. No increase in carriers were found among leukaemias; however the carrier frequency of the delta F508 mutation appeared to be reduced in patients with malignant melanoma analysed as a control group compared to the normal population. This paper extends our previous study and investigates several other common human tumours, including those of the colon, breast, and lymphoma tissue. Fewer than expected carriers remained among the melanoma group from South Wales. There were fewer than expected carriers among patients with colon cancer compared to the normal population. The prevalence of the delta F508 mutation was normal in lymphomas and leukaemias.