Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer: the Amsterdam criteria
The clinical criteria were established in 1991 to facilitate consistency in research
The criteria are based on family history of colorectal cancer and the patient’s age when diagnosed with cancer
They were originally designed for research purposes
They are relatively insensitive since small families can never meet the criteria and the criteria do not acknowledge the presence of extra colonic cancers
The modified Amsterdam criteria were designed to take into account small families and HNPCC extra colonic tumors
The Amsterdam II criteria take into account other HNPCC associated cancers (colorectal cancer, cancer of the endometrium, small bowel, ureter or renal pelvis)