Introduction. The aim of the study is to evaluate the incidence and phenotype genotype characteristics of hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes in Latvia in order to develop the basis of clinical management for patients and their relatives affected by these syndromes. Material and methods. From 02/1999-09/2002 in several hospitals in Latvia cancer family histories were collected from 865 patie...

Persons who have hypermethylation of one allele of MLH1 in somatic cells throughout the body (a germ-line epimutation) have a predisposition for the development of cancer in a pattern typical of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. By studying the families of two such persons, we found evidence that the epimutation was transmitted from a mother to her son but was erased in his spermatozoa...

Recent studies have revealed that tumors in patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer are associated with high-frequency alterations of microsatellite sequences. To investigate the mechanisms and consequences of this form of genetic instability, we identified three colorectal carcinoma cell lines that express dinucleotide-repeat instability like that found in hereditary nonpolyposis co...

PURPOSE This study examined the referral process for genetic counseling at a cancer genetics clinic in patients with colorectal cancer and to search for determinants of variation in this referral process. METHODS Patients who were recently diagnosed with colorectal cancer at a young age or multiple cancers associated with Lynch syndrome, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, (N = 119) we...

BACKGROUND Sebaceous gland tumors are a rare type of neoplasm. In some cases they have been associated with visceral tumors in patients with Muir-Torre syndrome, a hereditary form of nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to review the diagnosis and follow-up of a series of patients with sebaceous gland tumors to assess how many met the criteria for Muir-Torre syndrome. PAT...