Management of colorectal cancer: A role for genetics in prevention and treatment?

Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common cancers in the Western world and amongst the top three causes of cancer morbidity and death. Cancer is caused by genetic mutations, but currently there is little use of genetic information in the clinic with the exception of establishing germline muta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pathology, research and practice research and practice, 2008-01, Vol.204 (7), p.469-477
Main Authors: Sengupta, Neel, Gill, Kathryn A., MacFie, Tammie S., Lai, Cecilia S., Suraweera, Nirosha, Mcdonald, Sarah, Silver, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adenocarcinoma - genetics
Adenocarcinoma - prevention & control
Adenocarcinoma - therapy
Adenoma - genetics
Adenoma - prevention & control
Adenoma - therapy
Chromosomal instability
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal Neoplasms - genetics
Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control
Colorectal Neoplasms - therapy
Genes, Neoplasm - genetics
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genetic Testing
Genomic Instability - genetics
Humans
Instability
Microsatellite
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide - genetics
Single-nucleotide polymorphism
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Summary:Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common cancers in the Western world and amongst the top three causes of cancer morbidity and death. Cancer is caused by genetic mutations, but currently there is little use of genetic information in the clinic with the exception of establishing germline mutations for the uncommon predisposing syndromes. Rapid advances in technologies allowing high throughput analysis of germline and somatic mutations raises the possibility that genetics will find a major role in the clinic distinguishing individuals at low to high risk of cancer, allowing early intervention and stratification of cancers based on mutational pathways for therapeutic interventions. In the future, this will lead to treatment regimes tailored to the individuals and their tumor. Here, we summarize the genetics underlying colorectal cancer and the future role of genetics in prevention, diagnosis, classification and treatment.
ISSN:0344-0338
1618-0631
DOI:10.1016/j.prp.2008.03.003