Cleft lip and palate in family members of cancer survivors.

The presence of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) in family members of cancer patients was investigated. An epidemiological questionnaire including family history of cancer and congenital oral cleft malformations was administered to 168 cancer survivors and a population-based sample of 170 healthy subjects. In the control group, 1.2% reported a family member with CL/P; among cancer survivors the figure was 4.2% (odds ratio: 3.7; 95% confidence interval: 0.75–17.8; p = .07). Among cancer survivors with a family member with CL/P, there was an apparent excess of testicular cancer and melanoma in comparison with the cancer survivors with no family history of CL/P. These preliminary results suggest a common etiologic background for cancer and CL/P.