Dr. Kimberly Johnson and her colleagues at the Brown School of Social Work and the Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center recently reported a parental age effect for NF1. In their study, they found that children without a family history of NF1 tended to have parents who were older. Similar to other genetic conditions, this report reveals that the age of the mother or father is one of the many factors that contribute to NF1 arising for the first time in a family.
Using clinical information from the NF1 Patient Registry Initiative, Dr. Johnson demonstrated that mothers and fathers were on average 4 years older than parents with NF1 or parents in the general population who did not have a child with NF1. Further studies will be required to determine how age plays a role in the development of NF1.
Liu Q, Zoellner N, Gutmann DH, Johnson KJ. Parental age and Neurofibromatosis Type 1: a report from the NF1 Patient Registry Initiative. Fam Cancer. DOI 10.1007/s10689-014-9774-8, 2014.