Radiogenic male breast cancer with in vitro sensitivity to ionizing radiation and bleomycin.

A cytogenetically normal man with gynecomastia and a family history of diverse cancers developed adenocarcinoma of the breast 30 years following thymic irradiation. In vitro experiments measuring colony-forming ability of cultured skin fibroblasts from family members implied that the patient had a small but significant increase in sensitivity to ionizing radiation, and a moderate increase in sensitivity to bleomycin, a radiomimetic drug. Enhanced radiosensitivity of fibroblasts from the patient's mother, and bleomycin sensitivity of fibroblasts from the sister suggested, but did not prove, that genetic susceptibility affected the risk of radiogenic cancer in this individual. In vitro studies of cancer-prone kindreds are a useful research strategy in delineating mechanisms of carcinogenesis.