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World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2021; 12(7): 565-580
Published online Jul 24, 2021. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i7.565
BRCA mutations and gastrointestinal cancers: When to expect the unexpected?
Elena Maccaroni, Riccardo Giampieri, Edoardo Lenci, Laura Scortichini, Francesca Bianchi, Laura Belvederesi, Cristiana Brugiati, Silvia Pagliaretta, Elisa Ambrosini, Rossana Berardi
Elena Maccaroni, Department of Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, Ancona 60126, Italy
Riccardo Giampieri, Rossana Berardi, Department of Oncology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, Ancona 60126, Italy
Edoardo Lenci, Laura Scortichini, Department of Oncology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona 60126, Italy
Francesca Bianchi, Laura Belvederesi, Cristiana Brugiati, Silvia Pagliaretta, Elisa Ambrosini, Molecular and Clinical Science Department, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona 60126, Italy
Author contributions: All the authors contributed equally to designing and performing this research and have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to be disclosed.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Elena Maccaroni, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Oncology, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona, Via Conca, 71, Ancona 60126, Italy. elena.maccaroni@ospedaliriuniti.marche.it
Received: February 27, 2021
Peer-review started: February 27, 2021
First decision: May 4, 2021
Revised: May 17, 2021
Accepted: June 18, 2021
Article in press: June 18, 2021
Published online: July 24, 2021
Processing time: 143 Days and 20 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: BRCA1/2 pathogenic mutations, other than increasing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, may increase the risk of developing other types of cancers, such as prostate and pancreatic cancers. Our review highlights that BRCA mutations could also have a predisposing role to gastrointestinal tumours, in particular gastric, esophageal and colorectal cancer, thus playing an important role in terms of surveillance procedures and therapeutic options.