Amsterdam criteria


Amsterdam criteria

The clinical criteria needed to diagnose hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC—Lynch syndrome) in a family:
• There are at least three relatives with an HNPCC-associated cancer (large bowel, endometrium, small bowel, ureter or renal pelvis, but not stomach, ovary, brain, bladder or skin);
• One affected person is a first-degree relative of the other two;
• At least two successive generations are affected;
• At least one person was diagnosed before the age of 50 years;
• Familial adenomatous polyposis has been excluded;
• Tumours have been verified by pathologic examination.

Amsterdam criteria

Oncology Criteria for diagnosing hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, see there.
Amsterdam criteria
Family history
Presence of histologically verified colorectal cancer in ≥ 3 relatives–one of whom is a 1st-degree relative of the other 2
'Vertical' history
Presence of disease in ≥ 2 successive generations
Age of onset
Age < 50 in > 1 affected relative
Exclusion
Hereditary polyposis syndromes have been excluded

Amsterdam criteria

(am′stĕr-dam″) A means of screening family members for evidence of a hereditary predisposition to colorectal cancer. People in families with nonpolyposis colorectal cancer are screened for evidence of other malignancies of the skin, endometrium, and stomach. Those who meet the Amsterdam criteria should be closely followed, e.g., with regular colonoscopies.