People with a mutation in the MSH6 gene, part of the Lynch syndrome, have a greatly increased risk of colorectal, endometrial, and other related cancers.  The cancers can occur in old age, with an increasing risk from age 70 to 80.

About 4 in every 1000 colorectal cancers are due to an inherited mutation in the MSH6 gene.  It accounts for about 10 to 20 percent of Lynch syndrome mutations.

By the time they are 80 years old, men have eight times the risk of getting colorectal cancer and women have 26 times the risk of endometrial cancer — cancer that begins in the lining of the uterus.

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Sgt. Joshua T. Rose and Iron (Photo by Tina Susman)

Briefly: Pancreatic cancer occurs in about on in five Lynch syndrome families, increasing risk for the cancer substantially.

Colorectal cancer patients whose tumors don’t have EGFR on immunohistochemical testing can still benefit from Erbitux treatment.

Patients learn more and like medical consultations better when doctors sit side-by-side with them to view tests.

Gastroenterologists deployed in Iraq are using their skills to help military working dogs. Read the rest of this entry »

ECCO/ESMO UPDATE — BERLIN 2009

Although initial reports found no reduction in polyps or cancer in people with Lynch syndrome who took aspirin and/or resistant starch supplements, longer follow-up tells a difference story.

About five years after trial participants began taking aspirin or a placebo, differences began to emerge. Even though patients in the trial only took aspirin for four years, later followup found significantly fewer colon colon cancers among those who had used  aspirin, as well as fewer Lynch-related cancers overall.   There were almost three times as many colon cancers in Lynch carriers who took a placebo compared to those who used aspirin. Read the rest of this entry »

September is set aside to raise awareness of gynecological cancers.  GYN cancers affect women’s reproductive organs including the cervix, endometrium, uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina, vulva, and ovaries.

In 2009 there will be an estimated 80,720 new cases of GYN cancers and 28,120 deaths.

Women with Lynch syndrome (also known as hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer or HNPCC)  have a high lifetime risk of endometrial cancer, reaching 71 percent by the age of 70.  This is much higher than the general population whose risk is less than 2 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug used as long ago as the 1940′s, may be effective against colorectal cancers caused by mutations in a gene that is part of Lynch syndrome.

The drug targeted and destroyed cells that contained mutated MSH2 genes. Inherited mutations in MSH2 prevent mistakes in correct copying of DNA during cell division allowing cancer to develop and grow, particularly inherited colorectal and endometrial cancers.  In addition, MSH2 mutations can occur in some colorectal cancers that are not inherited.

Based on the work done in cancer cells, a Phase II clinical trial has begun recruiting patients with advanced colorectal cancer at the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital in the United Kingdom.  To be part of the trial, patients need to have changes in MSH2 genes either in their tumor tissue or in their blood. Read the rest of this entry »