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VIDEO: ‘Emerging’ research identifies genetic predispositions to colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer has generally been classified as a sporadic disease because of a limited understanding about which patients will be diagnosed with it, but emerging evidence has identified several genetic predispositions for the disease, according to Zev Wainberg, MD, of UCLA.
Two syndromes have been correlated to an increased risk of colorectal cancer, Wainberg said: familial adenomatous polyposis and Lynch syndrome. Lynch syndrome, which occurs more frequently, is usually found in a patient whose parent or sibling had colon cancer or polyps on the colon.
Additionally, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of patients aged 45 years and under who develop colon cancer, according to Wainberg. This may be indicative of another genetic predisposition that is not yet understood, as these patients typically develop tumors that are not associated with either Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis, but, at this time, “we don’t have a defined gene that we can point to” as the cause, he said.