Tóm tắt

Over the last quarter of a century, significant and explosive advancements havernbeen made regarding the study of colorectal cancer. The wealth of informationrnevolving is far reaching. From the first case report of the loss of the long arm ofrnchromosome 5 in a patient with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, to the cloningrnand identification of multiple genes involved in hereditary colorectal cancer, thernfield has progressed so we can now offer our patients genetic predisposition testingrnand better clinical management. Molecular mechanisms and the implications thatrnsome of these changes have for our patients is better understood. Rather than onlyrndiscussing therapy these advances now allow us to discuss surgical prophylaxis andrnchemoprevention. Advances in the knowledge of familial colorectal cancer havernnot come easy and are due to the hard work of inquisitive investigators and clinicians, the development of advance instrumentations and molecular genetic techniques and most importantly from our patients and families. Without them wernwould not have been able to achieve this feat. Still, there is more to be done in thernfield. There are yet undiscovered syndromes, genes and molecular alterationsrnwhich can and will change the lives of families and individuals. Thus, we cannotrnrely solely on what has been done, but need to continue to question existingrnresearch in the future.