Immunohistochemistry to Detect Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer in Young Patients: the 7-Year Auckland Experience

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In accordance with the Bethesda Guidelines, Auckland's metropolitan hospitals routinely perform immunohistochemistry for mismatch repair proteins on the tumor specimens of all patients with colorectal cancer aged 50 years and younger. When loss of expression is evident, patients are offered genetic counseling and gene mutation analysis. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the completeness of young patient capture over the first 7 years of routine testing, to find whether patients were referred for genetic testing, and to determine the proportion of patients found to have a mismatch repair gene mutation. DESIGN: This study retrospectively reviewed clinical, pathological, and..