Correlation Between Date Of Birth And Age At Diagnosis Of Colorectal Cancer In Hnpcc Families.

Genetic anticipation is characterized by an earlier age of disease onset, increased severity, and a greater proportion of affected individuals in succeeding generations.The discovery of trinucleotide repeat expansion (TRE) mutations as the molecular correlate of anticipation in a number of rare Mendelian neurodegenerative disorders has led to a resurgence of interest in this phenomenon.Evidence was sought for genetic anticipation (disease occurring at an earlier age in subsequent generations) in HNPCC.METHODS: Age at colon cancer diagnosis was compared within 14 families fulfilling the Amsterdam criteria for the diagnosis of HNPCC.or with ascertained mutation with at least two consecutive generations affected.We included only data of patients born between 1900 and 1979.We classified 49 patients for sex and decade of birth (1900-09 n l = 2, 19 10-19 n 2 = 7, 1920-29 n3=1 2, 1930-39 n 4 = 7,1940-49 n s =9, 1950-59 n 6 = 8,