Hereditary Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

The annual incidence of colorectal cancer in the United States is approximately 148,300 (affecting 72,600 males and 75,700 females), with 56,600 deaths (in 27,800 males and 28,800 females).¹ The lifetime risk of colorectal cancer in the general population is about 5 to 6 percent.¹ Patients with a familial risk — those who have two or more first- or second-degree relatives (or both) with colorectal cancer — make up approximately 20 percent of all patients with colorectal cancer, whereas approximately 5 to 10 percent of the total annual burden of colorectal cancer is mendelian in nature — that is, it is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. In this review we will focus on the two major forms of hereditary colorectal cancer, familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer.