Spontaneous and induced levels of chromosomal aberration and sister-chromatid exchange in neurofibromatosis: no evidence of chromosomal hypersensitivity.

Chromosomal aberration (CA) and sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies have been assessed in 9 patients with von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis (NF1) and 8 apparently healthy controls. In separate experiments over a 5-year period, blood lymphocytes, skin fibroblast cell strains, and lymphoblastoid lines from both groups were treated with X-rays or mitomycin C (MMC) to determine whether the NF1 group was more sensitive to these agents than the control group. No difference between cells from NF1 patients and controls was observed with respect to spontaneous or X-ray-induced CA. Spontaneous or X-ray- and MMC-induced SCE frequencies were also similar in NF1 patients and controls.