Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer and Cancer Syndromes: Recent Basic and Clinical Discoveries.

Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer and Cancer Syndromes: Recent Basic and Clinical Discoveries. J Oncol. 2018;2018:3979135 Authors: Chen E, Xu X, Liu T Abstract Approximately one-third of individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer have a family history of cancer, suggesting that CRCs may result from a heritable component. Despite the availability of current gene-identification techniques, only 5% of all CRCs emerge from well-identifiable inherited causes for predisposition, including polyposis and nonpolyposis syndromes. Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer represents a large proportion of cases, and robustly affected patients are at increased risk for early onset, synchronous, and metachronous colorectal malignancies and extracolonic malignancies. HNPCC encompasses several cancer syndromes, such as Lynch syndrome, Lynch-like syndrome, and familial colorectal cancer type X, which have remarkable clinical presentations and overlapping genetic profiles that make clinical diagnosis a challenging task. Therefore, distinguishing between the HNPCC disorders is crucial for physicians as an approach to tailor different recommendations for patients and their at-risk family members according to the risks for colonic and extracolonic cancer associated with each syndrome. Identification of these potential patients through epidemiological characteristics and new genetic testing can estimate the individual risk, which informs appropr...
Source: Journal of Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: J Oncol Source Type: research