Cutaneous sebaceous tumours and Lynch syndrome: long-term follow-up of 60 patients.

BACKGROUND: Sebaceous neoplasms (SN) may appear sporadically in the general population but may also be part of the Muir-Torre variant of Lynch syndrome (MT-LS). There are few studies in southern Europe on the incidence of MT-LS in the population of patients with SN. AIM: To retrospectively review patients with SN and to analyse their clinical features and the incidence of MT-LS. METHODS: Patients with SN diagnosed between 1995 and 2015 were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of MT-LS was made according to established clinical criteria and, whenever possible, was confirmed by germline mutation analysis. RESULTS: In 60 patients (32 men, 28 women, mean age 69.22 years), 96 SN were diagnosed: 65 adenomas (67.7%), 16 sebaceomas (16.7%) and 15 carcinomas (15.6%). Of the 60 patients, 50 (83.3%) had a single SN and 10 (16.7%) had multiple lesions. Patients diagnosed with MT-LS (12 patients, 20%) were younger (63.25 years vs. 70.71 years), and had a higher incidence of extrafacial SN (4/12 patients, 33.3%), and were significantly (P < 0.001) more likely to have multiple SNs (8/12, 75%) and keratoacanthomas (KAs) (6/12, 50%). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that all patients with SN should be investigated, as 20% of our patients were diagnosed with MT-LS. The most specific features of SN associated with MT-LS in our study were the presence of multiple lesions and association with KAs.

Risk of gynecologic cancers in Danish hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer families.

OBJECTIVE: Women in hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) families have an elevated risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer. The risk in Lynch syndrome families with known mutations in mismatch repair genes (MMR genes) seems to be higher than in familial colorectal cancer (CRC) families. Data in the Danish HNPCC register on the frequency and lifetime risk of gynecologic cancers were analyzed and the actual surveillance strategy discussed in relation to the results. DESIGN: Register-based retrospective study. METHOD: A total of 1,780 at-risk women were identified and epidemiological, clinical and MMR gene mutation data were retrieved. RESULTS: In a total of 105 cases of endometrial cancer, there was no significant difference in MSH2, MSH6 and MLH1 mutation carrier frequency. Compared to the general population, mutation carriers had a 20 times increase in lifetime risk of endometrial cancer. Lifetime risk was elevated four times in familial CRC families. In these families, frequency was correlated to the pedigree phenotype, with significantly higher frequency demonstrated in Amsterdam II families compared to Amsterdam I families and families suspected of HNPCC. A total of 39 cases of ovarian cancer were identified with a lifetime risk of three to four times the general population. No significant correlation was found between the frequency of ovarian cancer and MMR gene mutation status in the families. CONCLUSION: The benefit of surveillance concerning gynecological cancers seems to be less well founded in familial CRC families than in Lynch syndrome families. Modifying the surveillance strategy may be relevant in the future, but before changing existing guidelines concerning surveillance, further research is recommended.