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To the Editor: Dr Assié and colleagues¹ reported a significant association between germline homozygosity in the human genome and increased cancer risk. They also reported an increased loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in cancer cells at the same sites as those of increased genome homozygosis. These findings are important for consanguineous populations, and the authors cited studies that showed an increased risk of cancer in inbreeding populations. However, they have considered only studies from Pakistan and Croatia, which are supportive of their findings.

Human inbreeding is widespread in developing countries of the tropical and subtropical regions of the Eastern hemisphere and involves ethnically different populations.² These populations overall have a lower incidence of cancers than Western populations, with the exception of Pakistan, which has a higher incidence of breast and other cancers.³ In their article, Assié et al¹ cite a study from Pakistan showing that inbreeding increases the risk of breast . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Srdjan Denic, MD
s.denic@uaeu.ac.ae
Department of Internal Medicine

Nicolaas Nagelkerke, PhD
Department of Community Medicine
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

M. Gary Nicholls, MD
Department of Medicine
Christchurch Hospital
Christchurch, New Zealand

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