Background: In some Caucasian populations it has been found that the C282Y hemochromatosis (HFE) gene mutation is a risk factor for the development of leukemia and other malignancies.
Methods: In a group of 50 Mexican mestizo patients and 153 normal controls, the HFE gene mutations H63D and C282Y were studied by means of ARMS-PCR.
Results: In the group of patients with leukemia we found a heterozygote for the C282Y mutation, seven heterozygotes for the H63D mutation, a double heterozygote for the H63D / C282Y mutation and 41 normal homozygotes. These data are not different from those observed in normal controls, where the allele frequencies were 0.062 and 0.013 for the H63D and C282Y HFE gene mutations, respectively.
Conclusions: These HFE gene mutations are not risk factors for the development of leukemia in Mexican mestizos.