Adenocarcinoma of the uterine fundus in identical twins

Abstract

C ASES of tumors in twins have always been of interest to geneticists and physicians In reviewing the literature for the past twenty years we were unable to find a case of uterine fundus carcinoma in monozygous twins. Cerebellar tumors,1 lymphocytic,r and chronic lymphatic leukemia,3 retinoblastoma,* carcinoma of the stomach,5 carcinoma of the breast,63 7 and adenocarcinoma of the large intestines,% a have been reported in twins. Dr. Madge T. Macklin, Research Associate in the Department of Medicine at Ohio State University, who has done a great deal of work in tumors in twins, states that she does “not know of any other case in which carcinoma of the fundus in each member of an identical twin pair has been reported.’ ‘10 In assuming that these twins were identical, we did not rely on the statements of the patients and family, but made every effort to disprove their identity. The patients were identical in skin coloring, height, weight, and the color of their eyes and hair. Also, they frequently took each other’s examinations while in schoo1 and only the most intimate members of the family could tell them apart. In attempting to disprove their identity, Dr. Ernest Witebsky of the University of Buffalo examined their blood and each patient was: Blood Group: 4, subgroup A,; Rh positive, Subtype Rh,Rh,; and blood type M.11 Furthermore, Professor of Genetics D. C. Rife of Ohio State University examined the fingerprints of these patients and reported that ‘Lin this pair there are more than the average degree of differences between right and left hands, and the fact that these differences are as great as those between the two rights and two lefts of the pair suggests that they are probably identical. “12