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New Issues in Genetic Counseling of Hereditary Colon Cancer

Author's Affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Requests for reprints: Patrick M. Lynch, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, & Nutrition, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 301402, Houston, TX 77230-1402. Phone: 713-794-5073; Fax: 713-563-4398; E-mail: plynch{at}mdanderson.org.

Clinicians face significant challenges in the diagnosis and management of familial colorectal cancer predisposition. Many of the challenges concern the rarity of individual conditions and their unfamiliarity to most clinicians, even those in the subspecialty areas of gastroenterology, colorectal surgery, and medical oncology. Because the World Wide Web now offers a wealth of information, familiarity with available online resources should be a minimal expectation of clinicians. Notably, these same resources are available to the lay public, so a more informed group of patients can be expected and is already being encountered. The web sites noted throughout this article are merely early examples of what should become an opportunity for instant access to the most up-to-date knowledge of rare familial colorectal cancers and their clinical features, molecular diagnostics, and clinical management and prevention. Many professional organizations have produced guidelines (in print and online) for use by practitioners in various specialties. The consistency, growing evidence base, and ready availability of these guidelines to providers and patients alike will likely foster greater recognition of the need to be in compliance with them. Finally, as investigators make progress with the genetics of these rare diseases, one can anticipate a "cooperative group" approach to clinical trials.