Family history of colorectal cancer: A new survival predictor of colorectal cancer?

MARINA ANTELO; ANTONI CASTELLS

GASTROENTEROLOGY

W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC

Año: 2009 vol. 136 p. 357 - 359

0016-5085

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Between 16% and 20% of these patients have a first-degree relative with such a neoplasm. In parallel, many studies have demonstrated that the presence of CRC in a first-degree relative increases the risk of developing the disease by 2- or 3-fold. However, whether a family history of CRC affects the outcome of patients with the established disease was controversial. Indeed, 2 large studies published so far have provided divergent results. In this study (JAMA 2008;299:2515?2523), Chan et al prospectively examined the influence of family history of CRC on survival of patients with stage III colon cancer enrolled in a clinical trial of adjuvant therapy. The primary end point of the study was disease-free survival, defined as time from study enrollment to tumor recurrence, occurrence of a new primary colon cancer, or death from any cause. Beyond rare, well-characterized hereditary CRC syndromes (eg, familial adenomatous polyposis or Lynch syndrome), results of this study support the hypothesis that a relatively common, although less penetrant genetic predisposition, may not only influence cancer risk but also patient survival.