Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk & Prevention

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic at the University of Chicago Medicine offers personalized risk assessment for patients and families who may be at increased risk for developing gastrointestinal malignancies — such as colorectal, gastric or pancreatic cancers — due to genetic factors. Our services include:

• Gastrointestinal cancer risk assessment and genetic testing
• Cancer prevention counseling and strategies
• Colorectal cancer screening and surveillance, including colonoscopy
• Pancreatic cancer screening for high-risk patients
• Gastrointestinal surgical procedures
• Cancer prevention in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis)

Evaluation and risk assessment are offered for individuals who have the following medical history:

• Multiple gastrointestinal polyps
• Inflammatory bowel disease, especially with longstanding colon involvement
• Colorectal cancer before the age of 50
• Colorectal cancer at any age with a personal or family history of other cancers
• Pancreatic cancer at any age with a personal or family history of other cancers
• Gastric adenocarcinoma before the age of 50 and/or personal or family history of breast cancer 

Evaluation and risk assessment are recommended for families who have a genetic mutation associated with any of the following cancer predisposition syndromes:

• Lynch syndrome, also called HNPCC (hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer)
• Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)
• Juvenile polyposis syndrome
• Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
• Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) syndrome (CDH1 mutations)