A Population Based Study of Genetic Predisposition and Gene-Environment Interactions in Colorectal Cancer in East Anglia

OBJECTIVES:

• To obtain epidemiological information and biological material on a population based series of colorectal cancer cases.
• To define the proportion of colorectal cancer incidence attributable to mutations in known predisposing genes such as MLH1 and MSH2.
• To establish whether mutations at other loci may predispose to colorectal cancer, by comparing the frequency of alteration candidate genes in colorectal cancer patients with the corresponding frequency in cancer-free controls identified through the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Patients complete an epidemiological questionnaire. The questionnaire also requests identifying information about the patient's first-degree relatives.

Blood samples are collected from patients. DNA is extracted from these blood samples, from samples collected from cancer-free control participants in MREC-SEARCH-CONTROL, and from additional controls through the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) study (a population-based study of diet and health based in Norfolk, East Anglia). DNA samples are analyzed for polymorphisms of low penetrance cancer susceptibility genes.