Hereditary gastrointestinal cancers: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up

Knowledge of genetic susceptibility to gastrointestinal cancers is constantly evolving with identification of new genes. Similarly, a better understanding of the genotype/phenotype relationship in patients with Lynch syndrome (LS) or familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is leading to more individualised surveillance recommendations. In addition, molecular profiling of patients with cancer has been shown to guide targeted therapies, such as immunotherapy. Specialists involved in the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancer should be familiar with the main hereditary cancer syndromes and refer patients to specialised cancer genetic units for adequate genetic counselling and to address specific concerns associated to each genetic susceptibility. These guidelines aim to summarise the evidence-based data on hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC) and pancreatic cancer (PC) and provide useful clinical recommendations for identification and management of patients with hereditary gastrointestinal cancers.