Referring to the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service

Referral criteria

You can refer your patient to the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service if they have any of the following.

Two first-degree relatives, or one first-degree relative plus one or more second degree relatives, all on the same side of the family with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and one such relative:
- was diagnosed with colorectal cancer aged 54 years or under, or
- developed multiple bowel cancers, or
- developed an extracolonic tumour suggestive of Lynch syndrome (i.e., endometrial, ovarian, stomach, small bowel, renal pelvis, pancreas or brain)
A pathogenic variant (mutation carrier) of a hereditary gastrointestinal cancer syndrome.
A family history of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), Lynch syndrome or other familial gastrointestinal cancer syndromes.
A personal family history of gastric cancer which meets the International Gastric Cancer Linkage Consortium's guidelines.
One first-degree relative plus two or more first- or second-degree relatives all on the same side of the family with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer at any age.
At least one first- or second-degree family member diagnosed with colorectal cancer in association with multiple bowel polyps.
Is a member of a family known to the New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service.
A personal history or one first-degree relative with colorectal cancer diagnosed under the age of 50, particularly where colorectal tumour immunohistochemistry has revealed loss of protein expression for one of the mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2).
A personal history or one first-degree relative with multiple colonic polyps as per the Health New Zealand's update on polyp surveillance guidelines.