The family torn apart by cancer: Father, 53, who lost all THREE of his children to brain tumors and leukemia dies from disease – leaving behind his wife

A Brazilian father who lost all three of his children to cancer has tragically died from the same disease.

Regis Feitosa Mota, 53, and his children, learned in 2016 that they all had Li-Fraumeni syndrome, or LFS. Among sufferers, 90 percent of men and 70 percent of women go on to develop cancer during their lives.

The economist, from Fortaleza in the northeast of the country, had battled off cancer three times already. But in January this year he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma — a cancer affecting white blood cells.

Eight months later he died, leaving behind his wife Mariella who said the pain was ‘indescribable’ and that she had been sure he would beat the disease.

Their youngest daughter Beatriz died in 2018, aged 10, from leukemia, while their son Pedro died in 2020, aged 22, after suffering a brain tumor. Their eldest Anna Carolina died at the age of 25 last year after also being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Pictured above is father Regis Feitosa Mota, from Fortaleza in north-eastern Brazil, with his three children. They have all died from cancer. The youngest Beatriz died from leukemia in 2018 aged 10. His son Pedro died in 2020 aged 22 from a brain tumor and his daugher Anna Carolina, 25, died from a brain tumor last year. She had previously battled off leukemia

Mr Mota, 53, revealed in January that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma — or a type of cancer affecting white blood cells. He died eight months later after treatment. His wife Mariella said the pain was ‘indescribable’ because she was sure he would beat it

LFS is a condition thought to affect at least one in 20,000 families, and possibly as many as one in 5,000 families. 

Up to 50,000 Americans are thought to have the condition, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The disease is diagnosed via a genetic test with scientists warning it can trigger cancer at any time — although this is more likely to occur at an earlier age.

It is caused by a mutation in the TP53 gene, which means that a protein regulating cell division and triggering cell death when DNA damage is detected does not work.

This raises the risk of cells starting to divide uncontrollably, causing cancer.

People with LFS are most likely to suffer cancers in the bones, muscles and connective tissues as well as breast cancer, brain tumors, leukemia and cancer in the adrenal gland.

But a range of other cancers have also been detected in sufferers, including lung cancer, kidney cancer and cancers in the intestinal tract. 

Mr Mota’s wife, Mariella Pompeu, said after her husband’s death was revealed: ‘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.’

Mr Mota, was diagnosed with cancer three times between 2016 and 2023.

But in January this year he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma — where  white blood cells start to divide uncontrollably in the bone marrow, crowding out healthy cells.

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.’

Pictured above is Mr Mota with his two children Pedro and Anna Carolina. All three have now died from cancer

Mr Mota said on social media last week that he was in the hospital waiting for a bone marrow transplant.

He passed away in the state of Ceará, Brazil, where Fortaleza is based, on 13 August — Father’s Day in the South American country.

His body was cremated on 14 August in the city.

Adults with LFS have a 50 percent chance of giving birth to a child with the same condition, scientists say.