A prospective Lynch syndrome database is important because it allows researchers, clinicians, and policymakers to collect and analyse long-term, standardised data on people with Lynch syndrome (LS).
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📌 In short: A prospective Lynch syndrome database is essential because it produces high-quality, unbiased evidence on cancer risks, surveillance effectiveness, and preventive strategies, directly improving patient care and shaping clinical guidelines.
Here are the key reasons why it matters, based only on reliable clinical and research perspectives:
- Natural history understanding
- Prospective data (collected forward in time) helps clarify the true risks of different cancers (colorectal, endometrial, ovarian, gastric, etc.) in Lynch syndrome carriers.
- It reduces biases compared to retrospective reports, which often overestimate risks due to selective reporting of severe cases.
- Better risk stratification
- Different mismatch repair (MMR) gene variants (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, EPCAM) carry different cancer risks.
- A prospective database helps define more precise, gene-specific and even sex-specific risk estimates, which guide personalized surveillance.
- Evaluation of surveillance effectiveness
- Prospective registries allow direct measurement of how colonoscopy intervals (e.g., every 1–2 years) affect cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, and mortality.
- They can test whether surveillance reduces advanced cancers, enabling evidence-based guideline updates.
- Assessment of preventive strategies
- Allows evaluation of risk-reducing interventions such as aspirin (e.g., CAPP2/CAPP3 trials), prophylactic surgeries, or lifestyle modifications.
- Can help identify who benefits most from preventive measures.
- Improved clinical counseling
- Physicians and genetic counselors can give patients more reliable, individualized risk information, reducing uncertainty and supporting informed decisions.
- Data for health policy
- National or international databases provide evidence for cost-effectiveness of surveillance and preventive programs.
- This supports resource allocation and insurance coverage for Lynch syndrome management.
- Research opportunities
- Creates a resource for studying modifiers of cancer risk (genetic, environmental, lifestyle).
- Enables collaboration across centers and countries for rare cancers within LS populations.
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