Everything You Need to Know About Lynch Syndrome

Catching Cancer in Patients with Lynch Syndrome

Does your patient have cancer in their family history? If they have Lynch Syndrome, a simple screening can catch cancer before it’s too late.

It’s easy to merely glance over the obligatory medical history form that new patients fill out, scanning for information pertinent only to their presenting problem. But, as we at IntimMedicine Specialists look over a new patient’s medical history, we are always on the “look out” for a family history of cancer. How about a family history of colon, uterine, or ovarian cancer? These and a number of other cancers could indicate that you and your family has Lynch Syndrome.

Lynch Syndrome is named after Dr. Henry Lynch, who is considered the father of hereditary cancer. He named this syndrome the “Cancer Family Syndrome” in 1966, which was later called “Lynch Syndrome” in 1984 by other authors, after which point Lynch himself began calling it Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer, or HNPCC. It is now known as HNPCC or Lynch Syndrome, and it is characterized by members of the same family line born with a predisposition to develop ovarian, colo-rectal, endometrial, or other cancers.

For those of us in the fields of sexual health, we are in a unique position to be able to spot this syndrome and help our patients get the screenings they need to catch these potential cancers early. 1 in 400 people are at risk for Lynch Syndrome. It is projected that up to 1 million people in the United States have Lynch Syndrome, but due to a lack of public education about it, only about 5% of people who have Lynch Syndrome have been diagnosed with it.¹ Patients with Lynch Syndrome are at a much higher risk of developing these cancers, and it is recommended that their screenings start at an earlier age and are repeated more frequently than patients without Lynch Syndrome. For example, a patient with a family history of colon cancer starting before age 50 might have Lynch Syndrome, and it is recommended that they begin colonoscopies at age 20-25, rather than wait until it may be too late.

IDENTIFYING LYNCH SYNDROME

• If a patient has a family history of colon cancer – particularly if a family member developed colon cancer before age 50
• If a patient has a family history of extracolonic cancers including endometrial, ovarian, small bowel, biliary, renal pelvis, ureter, or glioblastoma (a particular brain cancer)
• If a female patient has abnormal uterine bleeding and a diagnosis of complex endometrial hyperplasia or endometrial cancer and she is younger than age 50

If any of these criteria are met, it is time to order a hereditary cancer panel. This panel will test for multiple cancer syndromes at once and is now the standard of care.

We are in a unique position to be able to catch cancer before it strikes. Ask your patients more about their family history of cancer. A simple screening process can make all the difference.

The specialists at IntimMedicine are experts in post-cancer sexual health. If you or a loved one is being treated for cancer or has been treated for cancer, talk to us at 202.293.1000, or email us at info@intimmedicine.com.

Learn more about Lynch Syndrome in this article.

¹ https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/gynecologic-cancers/keys-identifying-lynch-syndrome