Colon cancer risk in US traced to commo...( she explains clinical recognition of AF...),Health

Date:1/1/2008

, she explains, clinical recognition of AFAP can be difficult because colon cancer develops on average in a persons 50s and the majority of sporadic, or non-hereditary, colon cancers occur after the age of 50. About a third of people with AFAP also have just a few polypsagain similar to that for sporadic colon cancerand they may have a limited family history.

People need to talk with their family, learn their family cancer history, and share this information with their doctors. Doctors need to be aware of AFAP, recognize people at risk, and know the screening and treatment protocols that can prevent colon cancer from developing, Neklason says.

The Utah family in this study has more than 7,000 descendants spanning nine generations recorded in the Utah Population Database (UPDB), a shared resource for genetics research housed at HCI. Researchers use UPDB to identify and study families that have higher than normal incidence of cancer or other disease, to analyze patterns of genetic inheritance, and to identify specific genetic mutations.

Known individuals in this one family account for 0.15 percent of all colorectal cancers reported in Utah from 1966 to 1995. Based on that percentage, researchers expected to see eight cases of colon cancer from this family among the over 5,000 reported between 1996 and 2003.

But after previous research identified this family as affected by AFAP, aggressive education and clinical intervention resulted in only one mutation carrier in the family being diagnosed with colon cancer during those years.

Preventing seven cancers may not sound like much, says Neklason. But thats seven colon cancers that didnt devastate this family. And consider that $50,000 is a conservative estimate for the cost of colorectal cancer treatment. That amounts to at least $350,000, and that means a lot for any family.

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Contact: Christopher Nelson 801-581-5148 University of Utah Health Sciences Source:Eurekalert

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