Lynch Syndrome in Colorectal Cancer — What Testing Is Recommended?
Patients presenting with colorectal cancer may carry an unrecognised hereditary predisposition. Lynch syndrome is a heritable condition for which colorectal cancer is a key clinical trigger — systematic evaluation at diagnosis is essential to guide management and inform genetic risk in the family.
Clinical scenario
A patient with colorectal cancer in whom Lynch syndrome has not yet been assessed. Identifying or ruling out Lynch syndrome at this stage has direct implications for ongoing care and for at-risk relatives.
Recommended approach
Tumor-level molecular testing forms the basis of the recommended approach — the protocol specifies which testing method to apply to identify potential Lynch syndrome cases. The full algorithm, including which modalities are preferred and the conditions under which each is used, is available in the complete protocol.
The structured evidence-based regimen is one click away.
References
DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.07.036
The AGA recommends testing the tumors of all patients with colorectal cancer with either immunohistochemistry (IHC) or for microsatellite instability (MSI) to identify potential cases of Lynch syndrome versus doing no testing for Lynch syndrome.
View source ↗