There seems recently to have been an increased interest in the influence of heredity on cancer, as shown in medical and biological journals. This has led me to endeavor to obtain additional information on the subject from the records of the New York Life Insurance Company. In 1916 I made an investigation of the family records of 118 persons insured in six companies, irrespective of age, both of whose parents had died of cancer. Among the 472 grandparents the causes of death were given for 234; of these, only two were said to have died of cancer. Among the brothers and sisters of the parents who had died of cancer, the cause of death was recorded in 200; only 9 of these died of cancer. Fifteen years had elapsed from the date of issue of the policy to the date of the investigation, and all available information regarding the deaths had been obtained in the meantime. Another investigation was made of the family histories of 20,000 applicants; in 488 instances one parent had died of cancer. The sons and daughters of these parents were traced, and it was found that the death rate from cancer among them was low. Still another study was made of 125 policy holders who died in 1915 of cancer, the causes of death of both grandparents and parents having been given.