Advances in Hereditary Colorectal and Pancreatic Cancers

Purpose: Innovations in genetic medicine have led to improvements in the early detection, prevention, and treatment of cancer for patients with inherited risks of gastrointestinal cancer, particularly hereditary colorectal cancer and hereditary pancreatic cancer. Methods: This review provides an update on recent data and key advances that have improved the identification, understanding, and management of patients with hereditary colorectal cancer and hereditary pancreatic cancer. Findings: This review details recent and emerging data that highlight the developing landscape of genetics in hereditary colorectal and pancreatic cancer risk. A summary is provided of the current state-of-the-art practices for identifying, evaluating, and managing patients with suspected hereditary colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer risk. The impact of next-generation sequencing technologies in the clinical diagnosis of hereditary gastrointestinal cancer and also in discovery efforts of new genes linked to familial cancer risk are discussed. Emerging targeted therapies that may play a particularly important role in the treatment of patients with hereditary forms of colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer are also reviewed. Current approaches for pancreatic cancer screening and the psychosocial impact of such procedures are also detailed. (C) 2016 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.