Family Support

It is often difficult to talk about cancer - especially when a family has experienced cancer in several family members, or in people who are quite young.

The goal of our Registry and other specialized centres is to help families with hereditary colorectal cancer by offering education and support. By helping families understand the disease, we believe that we can assist families in taking an active role in their own health care, leading to the prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer.

Support and information are available from many sources:

• Genetic counselling is a service that is available to family members who are concerned about their risk of hereditary cancer. A thorough family tree is developed so that the information can be tailored to families and individuals.

• Web sites (like this one), newsletters and pamphlets can provide up-to-date information about the research and treatment of colorectal cancer.

• Books and audiovisual tapes are available on a wide range of topics relating to colorectal cancer.

Our Registry is part of a nation-wide network of centres that specialize in hereditary cancer. Part of our service includes referring family members for genetic counselling and screening in a convenient centre that has expertise in the area of inherited cancer.

If you would like to know more about Hereditary Colon Cancer, please contact us.