Breast cancer and melanoma in the same pedigree

This report is to document the occurrence of breast cancer and melanoma within either the same pedigree or the same patient and to make others aware of this association. A series of 52 patient pedigrees is presented from one clinical practice in which both breast cancer and melanoma were found over a 30-month period. It is suggested that formal pedigrees be obtained in addition to routine medical history questionnaires when either breast cancer or melanoma are encountered. It is further suggested that patients with either malignancy be screened for the other.