Familial Colon CA

  My grandmother(maternal) was diagnosed with Colon CA when she was approximately 65 years of age.  She died of heart failure.  She was given chemo therapy for one year, and the cancer went into remission never to return.  My father was diagnosed with Colon CA when he was 41.  He died 4 months later on his 42nd birthday.  I do get screened regularly for the disease.  I am wondering what are my chances of getting Colon CA with the history I have given?  Thank you for your time.
  Robin
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Dear Robin,
Thank you for yourquestion. We are sorry to hear about your father.  Unfortunately, colon cancer is a major cause of death in this country. There are about 160, 000 new cases of colon cancer each year. The American population has approximately a  6% lifetime risk of developing colon cancer. More people need to know about this disease because it is preventable by appropriate screening.
The occurrence of colon cancer is believed to have certain patterns in the population. Some cases occur at random. However, the risk is increased if you have family members with cancer. These 'familial' cases are defined by the occurrence of colon cancer in the family and/or by the existence of various clinical syndromes.
There is a two- to three-fold increase in colorectal cancer in first-degree relatives of patients with colorectal cancer. The risk is even stronger when cancer occurs in family members younger than age 50. Since your father was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 41 you  belong to this group.
There is another colon cancer syndrome called Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC). In  this syndrome at least three relatives are affected (one must be a first degree relative of the other two). We do not think that you have this syndrome because it was your maternal grandmother and not your paternal grandmother who was affected.
A small minority of colon cancers occur as familial cancer syndromes. In these cases colon cancer occurs in almost all members of the family and is usually associated with multiple cancers involving other organs. Again, we do not think that you belong to this rare group of patients.
We are glad to hear that you are undergoing screening and strongly encourage it. We would like to review with you the screening guidelines in your case. The consensus among physicians is that patients with your level of risk should have their first colonoscopy at age 40. Subsequent colonoscopies should be done every 3-5 years.
The most important tool in preventing colon cancer is awareness. If you adhere to the screening guidelines any premalignant condition should be detected before it elvolves into a cancer.
This response is being provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health.
If you would like to be seen at our institution please call 1-800-653-6568, our Referring Physicians' Office and make an appointment to see Dr. Bresalier, one of our experts in the treatment of gastrointestinal disease.  He would be happy to see you at and provide more information regarding coon cancer/polyps as well as ongoing care if this would be helpful to you.
HFHSM.D.-sg
*keywords: colon cancer, polyps, colonoscopy, hereditary nonpolyposis syndromes
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