Familial Adenomatous Polyposis

• Many benign polyps form in the colon, but they can become malignant if the colon is not removed
• Average age of affected individual developing colon cancer is 39
• Mostly commonly, is due to autosomal dominant mutation in APC gene
• Memory aid: FAP and APC both have 3 letters

Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer

• Also called Lynch syndrome
• Increased risk of colorectal cancer and other cancers
• Associated with increased risk of endometrial cancer in females
• Colon polyps can occur earlier than in the general population but not in greater numbers
• Autosomal dominant inheritance but can be due to mutations in a variety of genes, some of which have 3 or 5 letters
• Memory aid: the one that’s not FAP

References

1. Genetics Home Reference. (2018). Familial adenomatous polyposis. [online] Available at: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/familial-adenomatous-polyposis#genes [Accessed 22 Jul. 2018].
2. Genetics Home Reference. (2018). Lynch syndrome. [online] Available at: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/lynch-syndrome#genes [Accessed 22 Jul. 2018].