Up to 10% of all cancers are caused by a genetic change in a cell. Hereditary cancers happen due to this genetic change being passed from parent to child. A family cancer syndrome is a rare disorder where a higher than average risk of cancer is passed down through the family. One of these syndromes is becoming more widely known, and that is Lynch Syndrome.
Lynch Syndrome can cause colon cancer, as well as uterine, ovarian, stomach, pancreatic, kidney, gall bladder, urinary bladder and bile duct cancer at a young age. There are genetic tests available in Manitoba to anyone that has colon cancer at younger than 70 years of age. If the test is positive for Lynch then other family members may be eligible for genetic testing as well. If a parent with the Lynch gene has developed cancer and their child or children have inherited the gene, then those children should get colonoscopies starting at age 20 to 25 OR 10 years earlier than the first colorectal cancer diagnosis in their family, whichever comes first. The lifetime risk of colorectal cancer in someone with the Lynch gene is up to 80% in Manitoba. (Risk for those WITHOUT the Lynch gene is about 5%.) It is easy to see how important it is to be screened and to have regular colonoscopies.
Read more at https://wrha.mb.ca/files/lynch.pdf and https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/genetics
http://www.cancercrossing.org/
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