Amsterdam criteria

Amsterdam criteria is a set of clinical criteria used to identify individuals who may have Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), also known as Lynch syndrome. The criteria were first proposed in 1990 at a meeting in Amsterdam, hence the name.

Overview

The Amsterdam criteria are used to identify families that may have HNPCC. They include:

1. At least three relatives with a cancer that is associated with HNPCC (such as colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, urinary tract cancer, small bowel cancer, hepatobiliary tract cancer, brain cancer, skin cancer, or pancreatic cancer);
2. One of these relatives should be a first-degree relative of the other two;
3. At least two successive generations should be affected;
4. At least one of the relatives with cancer should be diagnosed before the age of 50;
5. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) should be excluded;
6. Tumors should be verified by pathologic examination.

Limitations

The Amsterdam criteria have some limitations. They do not include some of the cancers that are now known to be associated with HNPCC, such as kidney cancer and prostate cancer. They also do not take into account the size of the family or the number of family members who have had cancer. As a result, some families that do not meet the Amsterdam criteria may still have HNPCC.

Amsterdam II Criteria

In 1999, a second set of criteria, known as the Amsterdam II criteria, was proposed to address some of the limitations of the original Amsterdam criteria. The Amsterdam II criteria expanded the list of cancers associated with HNPCC to include all HNPCC-associated cancers.

See also

• Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer
• Lynch syndrome
• Cancer
• Genetic testing

References

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