| Summary: | The last 20 years have seen a remarkable increase in knowledge of the etiology of colorectal cancer. At least three aspects are much clearer. First, known environmental agents and behaviors have been identified that increase risk (for example, diets high in meat, obesity, and smoking ) or decrease risk (for example, diets high in plant foods, aspirin, and physical activity) of colorectal cancer. Second, germline mutations in specific genes have been identified for the major inherited syndromes involving colorectal cancer (FAP, Lynch Syndrome, Juvenile Polyposis, MYH-Associated Polyposis, Li-Fraumeni Syndrome) as have variants of genes that modify the risk associated with the known environmental agents. Third, the specific tissue, cellular, and molecular disturbances that characterize the progression to different subtypes of colorectal cancer have been recently described. Genetics of Colorectal Cancer provides the most up-to-date information in each of these areas
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