Abstract
This report describes the quasi-simultaneous occurrence of colon cancers in monozygotic twin brothers (age 63 years) who had undergone androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancers 4 years earlier. Concordance among male twins for both of these cancers has never been reported. Although the family history suggested possible genetic predispositions to both cancers, the twins have no evidence of the genetic alterations associated with hereditary colorectal tumors. We explore the possibility that colorectal tumorigenesis in these twins was fuelled by a combination of genetic and iatrogenic factors, in particular the androgen deprivation therapy used to treat their prostate cancers.
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Acknowledgments
We are very grateful to the members of the family described in this report, who graciously provided permission for publication of this information for the medical community; to Paul Lichtenstein for his excellent input and for the information he provided regarding the Swedish Twin Registry; to Henry T. Lynch, Sapna Syngal, and Fred Li for productive discussion of the cases; and to Marian Kent for editorial assistance. This work was supported in part by the Sassella Stiftung Zurich and Central Switzerland Cancer League grants to GM. Genetic analyses were supported by an Oncosuisse grant to KH.
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Arnoud Templeton and Giancarlo Marra have contributed equally to this work.
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Templeton, A., Marra, G., Valtorta, E. et al. Concordant colon tumors in monozygotic twins previously treated for prostate cancer. Familial Cancer 8, 167–171 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10689-008-9222-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10689-008-9222-8