Welcome to the Hereditary Colon Cancer Newsletter. Some of you may have received this newsletter in the past, and for others of you this may be your first issue. The goal of this newsletter is to be a source of current information on hereditary forms of colon cancer and polyps. This newsletter will be sent, four times a year, to individuals who are at risk for these conditions and also to professionals who work in this area. The newsletter along with additional information can be found at our website (http://www.mdanderson.org/depts/hcc).

To make this newsletter as helpful as possible, we would like your input. As you will see, throughout the newsletter are sections contributed by our readers. We hope that these sections will be a place for you to ask questions and share stories and experiences with each other and to also help educate professionals about your needs and concerns. We are also looking for your help in re-naming the newsletter. What do you think it should be called? Look inside for our "Name the Newsletter" contest, and your chance to win an exciting prize. At the end of this newsletter, we have also included an evaluation form. Please take a few minutes to make comments and let us know what you think of the newsletter.

This issue of the newsletter focuses on research being done in chemoprevention, an exciting new area looking at how different drugs may help to reduce the risk of cancer. Through the newsletter we will try to keep you informed of research and studies that may help benefit you and your family. If you are involved in other research projects, we would like to hear about them and share them in the next issue of the newsletter.

The Editors