Controversies in the surgery of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis and Lynch syndrome

Dominantly inherited syndromes of colorectal cancer predisposition are characterized by multifocal neoplasia with an early age of onset. The risk of colorectal cancer is high in affected patients and care of the patients is based on the aims of cancer prevention and cancer cure. At the same time, quality of life should be disturbed as little as possible. Because patients are generally young, the stakes are high. Injudicious decision-making can have unfortunate effects on patients and families. In this article the controversial aspects of surgery in familial adenomatous polyposis and Lynch syndrome are discussed. Specifically the controversies in familial adenomatous polyposis include the timing and the type of surgery while for Lynch syndrome discussion revolves about prophylactic surgery, primary, secondary and tertiary.