Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer) greatly increases the risk for colon and rectal cancer. People with the gene have about an 8 in 10 chance of getting colon cancer during their lives. Because Lynch cancers develop quickly and grow rapidly, it’s important to monitor people who carry the genes closely with colonoscopy every year or two.

When doctors in four research centers immediately followed up Lynch syndrome patients after a regular colonoscopy with more intense colonoscopy scrutiny, they discovered they had missed more polyps than they found.  During the first exam, their miss rate for adenomas, polyps with the greatest risk of developing into cancer, was 55 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study finds colorectal cancer patients with Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer or HNPCC) have better survival than patients without the inherited form of the disease.  Overall, 94 percent of Lynch syndrome patients were alive five years after their diagnosis compared to 75 percent of those with sporadic cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

In 2008 nearly 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and more than 15,500 will die.

Sometimes called the disease that whispers, ovarian cancer symptoms are often not recognized until its late stages when it is most deadly.  Found early, ovarian cancer is 90 percent curable but most cases are found after the cancer is already advanced.

President Bush has proclaimed September 2008 ass National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.  During September, advocates will be working to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, let women know about its symptoms, and work toward early detection and effective treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Women who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer under the age of 50 had tumors with signs of Lynch syndrome in a significant number of cases.  Lynch syndrome or hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) greatly increases the lifetime risk of both colorectal and endometrial cancer.

Researchers in Australia studied tumors from 146 women who were diagnosed with endometrial cancer before the age of 51.  They stained the tumor sections for proteins expression by mismatch repair genes, a genetic mutation that leads to Lynch syndrome cancers.  They also tested tumor DNA for other changes that can identify or exclude Lynch syndrome, and reviewed family medical history where it was available.

They found 26 tumors that were presumed to be due to Lynch syndrome or 18 percent of all the early endometrial cancers.  The tumors were more likely to be poorly differentiated, stage II, have rapidly dividing cells, and invade the wall of the uterus more deeply.

Patients with the presumptive Lynch syndrome tumors were also more likely to have a family history of cancer, Lynch associated cancer in a first-degree relative, or family colon cancer histories that met the Amsterdam criteria for Lynch syndrome.

The research team concluded that endometrial cancers diagnosed in women fifty or younger should be routinely tested by immunohistochemistry for proteins associated with Lynch syndrome.

Michael Walsh and his colleagues wrote,

Presumptive Lynch syndrome was identified in 18% of early-onset endometrial cancer. A risk of this magnitude would argue for routine immunohistochemical testing of tumors in patients diagnosed with EC at or before the age of 50 years.

SOURCE: Walsh et al., Clinical Cancer Research, March 15, 2008.