A Review Of Hereditary Colorectal Cancers

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. It has links with inappropriate food habits such as low consumption of fruits, vegetables, fiber, fish, vitamin C, dairy products, vitamin D and with high consumption of foods containing heme-iron (red and processed meat).  Moreover, poor lifestyles such as high alcohol consumption, obesity and lack of exercise are other factors that increase its incidence. The inherited CRC syndromes are a series of diseases that have specific mutations that predispose to CRC, so these are more aggressive and have a worse prognosis since they correlate with other tumors and some do not respond to chemotherapy. Early diagnosis is a challenge for physicians due to the absence of pathognomonic clinical findings.  The evidence shows that 50% of the patients are asymptomatic and usually present with symptoms (such as rectal bleeding, weight loss, and intestinal obstruction) when the disease is already advanced. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and syndromes not associated with polyposis, such as Lynch syndrome, are the most common cause of the onset of hereditary syndromes. When considered together, they represent 6 to 10% of all cases of CRC.[1] Estimates are that tumors found in young adults are related to hereditary CRC syndromes. This article will review the most common genetic syndromes in the development in CRC and the medical-surgical treatment approach according to current evidence.
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