Skip to main content
Log in

The changing approach for identifying hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Data based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) of colorectal cancers (CRC) clearly show that up to 10% of all cases harbour pathogenic variants. Thus, NGS performed for all patients with CRC under the age of 50 could be a cost-effective strategy, leading to a personalized approach to patients and family members.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1: Recognition and detection of inherited CRC predisposition.

References

  1. Bray, F. et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 68, 394–424 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Aaltonen, L. A. et al. Incidence of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer and the feasibility of molecular screening for the disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 338, 1481–1487 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Stoffel, E. M. & Murphy, C. C. Epidemiology and mechanisms of the increasing incidence of colon and rectal cancers in young adults. Gastroenterology 158, 341–353 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Picó, M. D. et al. Clinical and pathological characterization of Lynch-like syndrome. Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 18, 368–374 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lindor, N. M. et al. Lower cancer incidence in Amsterdam-I criteria families without mismatch repair deficiency: Familial colorectal cancer type X. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 293, 1979–1985 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Yurgelun, M. B. et al. Cancer susceptibility gene mutations in individuals with colorectal cancer. J. Clin. Oncol. 35, 1086–1095 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yurgelun, M. B. et al. Identification of a variety of mutations in cancer predisposition genes in patients with suspected Lynch syndrome. Gastroenterology 149, 604–613 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pearlman, R. et al. Prevalence and spectrum of germline cancer susceptibility gene mutations among patients with early-onset colorectal cancer. JAMA Oncol. 3, 464–471 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Archambault, A. N. et al. Cumulative burden of colorectal cancer – associated genetic variants is more strongly associated with early-onset versus late-onset cancer. Gastroenterology 158, 1274–1286 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors’ work was funded by the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (AIRC) under Investigator Grant N. 21723 (to L.R.) and Investigator Grant N. 22234 (to L.L.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Luigi Laghi or Luigi Ricciardiello.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Related links

Alliance Against Cancer: https://www.alleanzacontroilcancro.it/en/progetti/gersom/

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Laghi, L., Ricciardiello, L. The changing approach for identifying hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 17, 593–594 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0348-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0348-y

  • Springer Nature Limited

Navigation