Nonlinkage of 16q Markers to Familial Predisposition to Wilms' Tumor

Wilms' tumor (WT), a childhood cancer of the kidney, occurs in both familial and sporadic forms. Chromosome 11 genes have been implicated in the etiology of WT, and mutations in a gene at chromosomal band llpl3, WT1% have been identified in a few WT cases. However, llpl3 has been excluded as the site of the predisposition mutation segregating in several large WT families, which implies the existence of a non-11p familial predisposition gene. Recently, loss of heterozygosity for 16q markers located between chromosomal bands 16ql3 and 16q22 has been reported in approximately 20% of sporadic Wilms9 tumors. To determine if this region of 16q harbors the non-1 lp familial WT gene, a genetic linkage study of five WT families was undertaken. Using multipoint analyses, we ruled out genetic linkage of familial WT predisposition to 16q.