Familial gastric cancer and immunologic abnormalities

Stomach cancer developed in 12 members of an inbred kindred over 4 generations. The family resided in a rural county where the reported mortality from this cancer has been significantly higher than in the surrounding region, but no specific environmental influence could be identified. A battery of laboratory studies applied to 16 family members, including 1 recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, revealed a high frequency of cases with antibody to gastric parietal cells and cell-mediated immune defects. These observations suggest that mechanisms of autoimmunity and immunodeficiency, consistent with a genetic defect of T-lymphocytes, are involved in this family's susceptibility to stomach cancer.