The mission of CGA-IGC is to serve as a resource for its members and the wider #HereditaryGICommunity.
Knowledge empowers both patients and health professionals alike. When individuals are well-informed, they can make better decisions about their health, understand treatment options, and actively participate in their own care. For healthcare providers, staying up-to-date with the latest research and best practices ensures they can offer the highest quality of care to their patients.
This March, we are again teaming up with Fight CRC to highlight and raise awareness of early-onset colorectal cancer (#eoCRC). AliveandKickn will also be ramping up awareness leading up to #LynchSyndromeAwarenessDay. Both of these organizations work tirelessly to support patients and their families. Take the time to learn more about their activities and initiatives below.
If you know of other initiatives, please tag us on social media (X, Linkedin, Bluesky or Instagram) or contact us here.
Fight CRC, have created a 1-minute colorectal cancer screening quiz so you can learn more about your risk and how to start a conversation with your doctor. We strongly support everyone taking the time this March to take the quiz and encourage others to do the same.
March 1 / Kick off #ColorectalCancerAwarenessMonth!
March 3 / Learn from our president, Beth Yurkovich Dudley, about the importance of this partnership with FightCRC HERE. From #StrongArmSelfies to displaying your blue flag(s) this March, there are many ways to get involved and show your support for colorectal cancer survivors and their families. Don’t forget that with every #StrongArmSelfie you post, $1 is donated to the fight against colorectal cancer.
March 5 / We launched our early-onset colorectal cancer (eoCRC) toolkit during the 2023 #ColorectalCancerAwarenessMonth! Early-onset colorectal cancer is on the rise and this toolkit provides healthcare professionals with educational and clinical practice resources to improve early detection and management of eoCRC. We now have some new content - see what it is new HERE.
March 5 was the first webinar of the University of Chicago Medicine's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month webinar series took place. The first webinar, from 12 pm to 1 pm CT, will feature Christine Drogan, MS, CGC, a CGA-IGC Council member, and Emma Keel, MS, CGC, our Education Committee chair. They discussed the link between genetics and colon cancer.
March 7 / Our 2022 CGA-IGC president, Swati G. Patel, MD, MS, CGAF, spoke to the Health Science Radio at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The featured episode, "Why Are Colorectal Cancer Patients Getting Younger?" covers the epidemiological factors behind it, the age groups being affected, symptoms people should be paying attention to, preventative screening options, and where the research is going to try to reverse this alarming trend. Don't miss this insightful podcast and the opportunity to learn more about Dr Patel's research, which focuses on improving the identification and care of patients at increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer based on family history and genetics and optimizing colonoscopy training and quality.
March 9 / Our president, Beth Yurkovich Dudley, MS, CGC, MHP, CGAF. and president-elect, Elena Levinson, MS, MPH, CGC, were in Washington, DC, on Sunday, March 9, for the United in Blue Volunteer Day. Volunteers placed 27,400 blue flags on the National Mall, representing the number of individuals under the age of 50 projected to be diagnosed with colon cancer in 2030.
March 10 & 11 / 2024 CGA-IGC president Bryson Katona, MD, PhD, CGAF, participated in the United in Blue Rally on March 10, as well as in a panel discussion on March 11. Learn more about Call on Congress and Fight CRC’s efforts to amplify awareness HERE.
March 12/ The University of California, San Francisco's Lynch Syndrome Center organized a Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Townhall on March 12, 2025, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, which focused on the why and how to get screened for colon cancer. Speakers included the Director of the USCF Lynch Syndrome Center and past CGA-IGC council member, Aparajita Singh, MD,MPH.
March 17/ The Lynch Syndrome Symposium, organized by Penn Medicine and taking occurred on March 17, 2025, and designed for patients their caregivers, family members, advocates, and members of the public who may benefit from understanding the cancer risk associated with Lynch Syndrome. The Keynote Speaker was C. Richard Boland, MD addressing "Lynch Syndrome: an insider's perspective."
March 20 / Past CGA-IGC president, Carol Burke, MD, CGAF, FASGE, AGAF gave the American College of Gastroenterology Virtual Grand Rounds presentation "Hereditary GI Cancers and Gastrointestinal Polyposis Syndromes: Who to Screen, How to Surveil, and What Resources Are Available" on March 20, 2025, providing the opportunity for gastroenterologists and others to learn more about the screening & surveillance recommendations of patients with hereditary GI cancer and polyposis syndromes during #ColorectalCancerAwarenessMonth!
March 22 / We’re delighted to share a number of resources and initiatives on #LynchSyndromeAwarenessDay:
On the occasion of Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day, our first podcast in 2025 and the first of a series of 3 will focus on hereditary GI cancer collaborative research, more specifically about LINEAGE - the Lynch syndrome integrative and genetics epidemiology consortium. Our research committee chair, Joshua Melson, MD, spoke with our 2022 CGA-IGC president, Swati G. Patel, MD, MS, CGAF, Holli Loomans-Kropp, PhD, and Zacharia Foda, MD, PhD all CGA-IGC members but from different institutions, are key contributors to this collaborative research effort and will provide an update about LINEAGE.
AliveAndKickn’s social media toolkit. Essential for Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day but also throughout the year. Also, take the opportunity to browse their other resources.
We’ll be linking to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's LYNKED IN conference presentations once they’re available which featured our past president Swati G Patel, MD, MS as the keynote speaker. Additionally, we’ll be providing a link to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's 4th Annual Lynch Syndrome Symposium, which featured Rick Boland as the keynote speaker, who is a researcher extraordinaire and we're honored to note, also a valuable member of our Grant Review committee.
Save the Date
Dana-Farber’s Lynch Syndrome Center, the Lynch Syndrome Scientific Symposium, will not be happening this March but instead will take place on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In-person and virtual attendance options are available. This symposium features local and international expert speakers as they share the latest updates from the field to provide you with new knowledge and insight for managing individuals with Lynch Syndrome. Learn more HERE. Register HERE.
The University of Colorado Cancer Center is organizing the Lynch Syndrome Best Practices 2025 Patient Symposium, to be held on August 23, 2025, in Denver, CO. The keynote speaker will be Elena Stoffel, MD MPH, and patient advocates Danielle Ripley-Burgess (FightCRC) and Trevor Maxwell (Man Up to Cancer) will also be presenting.
Our "In case you missed it! resources." You may have missed some of these resources from previous years!
Alessandro Mannucci, MD shared an insightful blog post “Understanding Early Onset Colorectal Cancer: Challenges and Strategies.”
We recorded an interview in 2023 with Swati G. Patel, MD, MS, CGAF and lead authors Giulia Martina Cavestro, MD, PhD and Alessandro Mannucci, MD, both from the
University Vita Salute San Raffaele Hospital Milan, Italy. The guidelines published in the same year represent a useful tool for clinicians caring for patients with eoCRC.
The Research Committee webinar "Building Trust and Resources in Colorectal Cancer Research: Strategies for Community Engagement, Biospecimen Collection, and Addressing Disparities” happened last year during the 2024 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. This webinar is an invaluable resource for new researchers, offering vital insights and tools for conducting inclusive and impactful research within diverse communities. Read the webinar summary written by one of our talented communication committee members.
Past and present council members have participated in podcasts and interviews sharing their knowledge and insight. Our 2024 CGA-IGC president Bryson Katona, MD, PhD, CGAF recently participated in a podcast Improving Detection of Lynch Syndrome: Key Strategies. CGA-IGC treasurer Michael F. Hall, MD, MS, FASCO, CGAF discussed Lynch syndrome, what cancers patients would be more at risk for, and who should get tested.
A video by Laura Valle, PhD summarizing carcinogenesis in Lynch Syndrome and differences in MMR genes. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from an expert!
Michelle Springer, MS, CGC, our communication committee vice chair working with the team from the Hereditary Cancer Program, University of Colorado Cancer Center has generously shared a valuable patient resource with us. They have taken a practical approach to the 30g of resistance starch and developed a resource highlighting the foods highest in fiber and included handy meal plans that will make it a breeze for high-risk patients (& everyone!) to incorporate more fiber into their diet. An extremely useful resource for your daily practice - read it HERE.
The Constitutional MLH1 Promoter Hypermethylation podcast is a must listen interview with Megan Hoenig, MS, MPH, CGC. She provides background information about Constitutional MLH1 Promoter Hypermethylation and why it is a cause of Lynch Syndrome, and that it’s probably more common than we know. Read the webinar summary written by one of our communication committee member.
Does starch prevent cancer in patients with lynch syndrome by a mechanism that might be applicable to the general population? You can find out by listening to our 2023 interview with Swati G. Patel, MD, MS, CGAF and Sir John Burn, MD where he shares the outcome of the study Cancer Prevention with Resistant Starch in Lynch Syndrome Patients in the CAPP2-Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial: Planned 10-Year Follow-up. You don’t want to miss this podcast, it was the highest rated podcast in 2023!
In 2023, the NCCN made a significant change to the testing criteria for Lynch syndrome. We provided an update during the 2023 Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day. Did you miss it? Read it HERE and listen to Heather Hampel, MS, CGC explain what the changes to the guidelines means to healthcare team caring for patients and their families with #LynchSyndrome.
If you missed our joint webinar with the ACG on the occasion of 2023 #LynchSyndromeAwareness day with Peter Stanich, MD & Heather Hampel, MS, CGC, who spoke about "Historical and current approaches to identifying individuals with Lynch Syndrome". You can read the webinar summary written by our Communication committee members.
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