COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University
Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J.
Solove Institute (OSUCCC – James)
has launched a statewide initiative to screen newly diagnosed colorectal cancer
patients and their biological relatives for Lynch Syndrome, the most common
form of inherited colorectal, ovarian and uterine cancer. The effort – made
possible through money raised by Pelotonia
– will identify family members who may be at risk of developing these cancers
so they can take precautionary measures.
The Ohio Colorectal Cancer Prevention
Initiative is led by Heather Hampel, associate director of the Division of
Human Genetics at the OSUCCC –James. Hampel says that about 3 percent of colorectal
cancer cases result from Lynch Syndrome,
which is characterized by inherited mutations in one of four genes for
DNA-repair proteins. Each colorectal cancer patient with Lynch Syndrome has, on
average, three relatives with the syndrome, heightening their risk for colorectal
cancer.
Based in large part on research conducted at
the OSUCCC – James from 1999-2008, the Centers for Disease Control’s Evaluation
of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention working group recommends
that all newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients be screened for Lynch
Syndrome. The OSUCCC – James has done this since 2006 to help reduce morbidity
and mortality in colorectal cancer patients and their at-risk relatives, who
can also benefit from increased surveillance methods if they too are found to
have Lynch Syndrome.
The Ohio Colorectal Cancer Prevention
Initiative includes 42 hospitals throughout Ohio that will implement the Lynch Syndrome
screening program at their own institutions. They will advise patients and
their physicians of the results, offer genetic counseling and make high-risk
cancer surveillance recommendations to patients and family members found to
have Lynch Syndrome.
“If you find people with Lynch Syndrome
before they develop cancer, you have the potential to really save lives,” Hampel
says. “Lynch Syndrome patients can take precautionary measures by having
colonoscopies earlier and more frequently, starting at age 20 to 25 and
performed every one to two years so precancerous polyps can be detected and
removed, or so that cancer can be detected in an early stage when it is more
treatable,” she says. It is estimated that the Ohio Colorectal Cancer
Prevention Initiative will save nearly 1,000 years of life among Ohioans.
And to prevent ovarian and uterine cancers,
she adds, women with Lynch Syndrome may choose to have a hysterectomy including
removal of their ovaries once they are finished having children.
Gov. John Kasich has declared Friday (3/22) as
Lynch Syndrome Hereditary Cancer Public Awareness Day to encourage Ohioans to
learn their family histories of cancer and discuss it with their physicians in
order to protect families and save lives from hereditary cancers.
An estimated 600,000 to 1 million people
nationwide are projected to have Lynch Syndrome, however less than 10 percent
are currently diagnosed. On average, almost 6,300 Ohioans are diagnosed each
year with colorectal cancer. Each year in Ohio, about 1,170 women are projected
to be diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Three to five percent of individuals
with colorectal and/or endometrial cancer are projected to have Lynch Syndrome.
“Knowledge is power,” says Hampel. “By
routinely testing patients across the state for Lynch Syndrome, we can save
lives, and help to create a cancer-free world.”The Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research
Institute
strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with
excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to
better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of
only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated
Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only seven centers funded by the NCI to
conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials. The NCI recently rated Ohio
State’s cancer program as “exceptional,” the highest rating given by NCI survey
teams. As the cancer program’s 228-bed adult patient-care component, The James
is a “Top Hospital” as named by the Leapfrog Group and one of the top cancer
hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
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Contact:
Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center Public Affairs and Media Relations,
614-293-3737, or Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu