The incidence is between 1:30,000 and 1:100,000 and it is more often a sporadic mutation rather than an inherited condition.

In about 50 percent of individuals with NF1, the disorder results from spontaneous (sporadic) mutations of the gene that occur for unknown reasons.

Most cases of FOP occur as the result of a sporadic new mutation.

It is believed to be due to a sporadic mutation, since parents of affected children usually have no evidence of the disease.

In about half of all cases hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is familial, the remaining cases presumably arising from sporadic mutation.

In individuals with the disorder, this sporadic genetic mutation is present in only some of the body's cells (mosaic pattern).

In some individuals with NF2, the disorder is caused by new (sporadic) mutations of the gene that occur for unknown reasons.

Autosomal recessive inheritance is the most likely, but sporadic mutations and autosomal dominant cases may also occur.

It was later discovered, however, that the disorder is actually caused by a sporadic genetic mutation fitting an autosomal dominant genetic profile.

There's generally a substantial overlap between these sporadic mutations and the ones that are mutated in the cancer's heritable form.