Chromosomal breakage in peripheral lymphocytes, cultured fibroblasts and long-term lymphoblastoid cell lines was investigated in five hitherto undescribed patients with ataxia telangiectasia (AT). Increased chromosomal instability was observed in lymphocytes and fibroblasts, and clones possessing a Dq+ marker were observed. Breakage rates were significantly higher in the fibroblasts than in the lymphocytes of AT patients or in similar tissues from patients with Bloom syndrome or Fanconi anemia. However, chromosome breakage in lymphoblastoid lines established from these five AT patients and six others did not differ from controls. These observations suggests that selection pressures, in vivo or in vitro, or both, act differently on the expression of chromosomal instability in these various cell types.