title: Lynch syndrome in South America: past, present and future.
abstract: After decades of unawareness about Lynch syndrome, the medical community in South America is increasingly interested and informed. The visits and support of mentors like H. T. Lynch had been crucial to this awakening. Several countries have at least one registry with skilled personnel in genetic counseling and research. However, this only represents a very restricted resource for the region. According to the GETH, there are 27 hereditary cancer care centers in South America (21 in Brazil, 3 in Argentina, 1 in Uruguay, 1 in Chile and 1 in Peru). These registries differ in fundamental aspects of function, capabilities and funding, but are able to conduct high quality clinical, research and educational activities due to the dedication and personal effort of their members, and organizational support. More support from the governments as well as the participation of the community would boost the initiatives of people leading these groups. Meantime, the collaboration among the South American registries and the involvement of registries and leaders from developed countries will allow to maximize the efficiency in caring for affected patients and their families. The aim of this article is to describe how the knowledge of LS began to be spread in South America, how the first registries were organized and to summarize the current state of progress. In addition, we will provide an update of the clinical and molecular findings in the region.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Cáncer Hereditario (ProCanHe), Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. carlos.vaccaro@hospitalitaliano.org.ar.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Vaccaro
authors.affiliation: Uruguayan Collaborative Group, Hospital Militar, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarroca
authors.affiliation: Brazilian Study Group on Hereditary Tumors - GETH, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Benedito
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Clínica Las Condes, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopez-Kostner
authors.affiliation: Department of Tumor Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Mev
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dominguez
authors.affiliation: Programa de Cáncer Hereditario (ProCanHe), Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Natalia Causada
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Calo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Raul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cutait
authors.affiliation: Uruguayan Collaborative Group, Hospital Militar, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Adriana Della
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Cáncer, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nuñez
authors.affiliation: Uruguayan Collaborative Group, Hospital Militar, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Florencia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neffa
authors.affiliation: Clínica Las Condes, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Programa de Cáncer Hereditario (ProCanHe), Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Maria Laura
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Programa de Cáncer Hereditario (ProCanHe), Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kalfayan
authors.affiliation: Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Henry T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Church
mesh_terms: D003123:Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D005817:Genetic Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing; D018095:Germ-Line Mutation; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Genetic counseling; Genetic testing; Hereditary cancer registry; Hereditary colorectal cancer; Lynch syndrome