1 in 6: Many Early Colon Cancers Linked to Inherited Genes (including breast)

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In about a third of these cases, researchers found that patients were at higher risk of cancer due to their genetics -- but these patients wouldn't have normally been screened under the usual guidelines.
"We expected to find a high rate of Lynch syndrome among these early onset colon cancer patients," said study first author Rachel Pearlman. She's the statewide study coordinator at Ohio State.
Pearlman said what surprised the researchers were some of the other gene mutations they found in these young colon cancer patients. For example, they found mutations in genes traditionally linked to breast cancer risk, even in people whose family history didn't indicate a possibility of those mutations.
"Until multi-gene panel testing, we typically would not have tested a patient with colorectal cancer for mutations in those genes unless they met criteria based on their family history. There is still a lot to learn from these findings," she said.