Prospective observational data informs understanding and future management of Lynch syndrome: insights from the Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD)

Abstract

The Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD) has been developed as an international, multicentre, prospective, observational study that aims to provide age and organ-specific cancer risks according to gene and gender, estimates of survival after cancer and information on the effects of interventions. Recent reports from PLSD provided improved estimates of cancer risks and survival and showed that different time intervals between surveillance colonoscopies did not affect the incidence, stage or prognosis of colorectal cancer. The PLSD reports suggest that current management guidelines for Lynch syndrome should be revised in light of the different gene and gender-specific cancer risks and the good prognosis for the most commonly associated cancers.In this review, we describe the discrepancies between the current management guidelines for Lynch Syndrome and the most recent prospective observational studies, indicating the areas of further research.

Keywords: Cancer incidence; Colonoscopy; Colorectal cancer; Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer; Lynch syndrome; PLSD; Precision medicine; Prevention; Surveillance.