A father who lost three children to cancer has died of the same disease.
Like his children, Régis Feitosa Mota was born with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a hereditary condition that increases the chances of developing cancerous tumours in the body.
The lifetime risk of developing cancer in people with LFS is 90 per cent, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and a 50 per cent chance of developing cancer before age 30.
Régis, 53, was diagnosed with cancer three times between 2016 and 2023. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in January.
At the time, he said: “We discovered yet another disease. We have already treated lymphocytic leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which are now stabilised. But we have been treating them, they are not cured.
“This time, we discovered multiple myeloma, which even affects the bones.”
Régis said on social media last week that he was in the hospital waiting for a bone marrow transplant.
However, he passed away in Ceará, Brazil, on 13 August - Father’s Day in the South American country. His body will be cremated today, 14 August in Fortaleza.
Régis’ wife, Mariella Pompeu said: “My friends, I never imagined making this post. I never prepared myself for this moment because I was always convinced Régis would make a full recovery.
“It’s an indescribable pain. The ground has opened up and I don’t know what life will be like without his affection, companionship and absolute love.”
His brother Rogério Feitosa Mota said: “Our warrior went to meet his children exactly on Father’s Day. May God take you, my brother! We love you so much.”
Régis and Mariella lost three children within a four-year span. Their youngest child, Beatriz, died of leukaemia in 2018 at just 10 years of age. Their son Pedro died of a brain tumour in 2020 at the age of 22. Last year, their daughter Anna Carolina also died of a brain tumour at the age of 25, after previously beating leukaemia.
Adults with LFS have a 50 per cent chance of giving birth to a child with the same condition. According to the National Organization for Rare Diseases (DORD), which notes that Li-Fraumeni syndrome is “caused by an inherited (germline) pathogenic variant of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 17,” there is “no evidence of ethnic or geographic disparity in the occurrence of LFS, but a uniquely high prevalence of LFS has been reported in southern and southeastern Brazil”.
