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Leukaemia and other allied blood disorders

Inheritance patterns and prenatal diagnosis

Inheritance patterns
The majority of cases of leukaemia are not hereditary. Identical twins of children with ALL show a significant excess chance of developing ALL. Down syndrome is associated with an incidence of acute leukaemia, about twenty times higher than is seen in the general population. There is evidence that a small minority of cases of CLL and of AML may be familial.

Prenatal diagnosis
Not applicable

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Medical text written November 2001 by Ken Campbell, Leukaemia Research Fund. Approved November 2001 by Professor Victor Hoffbrand, Emeritus Professor of Haematology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK. Last updated August 2006 by Ken Campbell MSc (Clinical Oncology), Leukaemia Research Fund, London UK.

 

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