Abstract
There is increasing evidence that predisposition to some cancers has a genetic component. There is a high incidence of loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 9, in the region of tumour suppressor gene, CDKN2A (also known as p16), in sporadic squamous cell cancer of the head and neck (SCCHN). To investigate the possibility that CDKN2A may be involved in the inherited susceptibility to SCCHN, the 3 coding exons of CDKN2A were sequenced in 40 patients who had developed a second primary cancer after an index squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. No mutations were found and we conclude that CDKN2A mutations do not play a major role in cancer susceptibility in this group.