Korean J Med.
2001 Jun;60(6):507-513.
Frequency and clinical characteristics of suspected hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. sky@www.amc.seoul.kr
- 2Department of General Surgery, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The current diagnosis of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is dependent on a detailed family history based on the Amsterdam criteria proposed by the International Collaborative Group on HNPCC (ICG-HNPCC) in 1990. On recognizing the shortcomings of the ICG-HNPCC criteria, the Korean Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Registry (a subdivision of the Korean Hereditary Tumor Registry) designated the term 'suspected HNPCC' for families who do not fullfill the criteria of the ICG-HNPCC but in whom a genetic basis for colon cancer is strongly suggested. The present study was designed to determine the frequency and define the clinical characteristics of suspected HNPCC.
METHODS
We analysed the clinical characteristics of 42 suspected HNPCC patients and their family members and compared these characteristics with that of 1,692 non-hereditary colorectal cancer patients.
RESULTS
The frequency of suspected HNPCC was 2.4% in our study. The mean age of suspected HNPCC patients at the time of diagnosis was 45.1+/-9.6 years and that of non-hereditary colorectal cancer patients was 57.4+/-11.9 years. The incidence of synchronous colorectal cancers in HNPCC was 7.1% and that of non-hereditary colorectal cancers was 0.9%. In suspected HNPCC families, 18 patients had extracolonic malignancies and the stomach cancer was the most common (55.5%).CONCLUSION: The frequency of suspected HNPCC among total colorectal cancer cases was 2.4% in our study. Tumors in suspected HNPCC differed from non-hereditary colorectal cancers in an early age of onset.
