He says you might be surprised how often colonoscopies uncover polyps lurking in your colon. "Precancerous polyps are extremely common," he says. "We expect to find them in more than a quarter of the colonoscopies that we do at a minimum.
Most colon polyps are harmless. But over time, some colon polyps can develop into colon cancer. Colon cancer can be fatal when found in its later stages. Anyone can develop colon polyps.
If the colonoscopy finds one or two small polyps (5 mm in diameter or smaller), you are considered at relatively low risk. Most people will not have to return for a follow-up colonoscopy for at least five years, and possibly longer.
While the majority of colon cancers start as polyps, only 5-10% of all polyps will become cancerous. The size of a polyp typically does make a difference. The larger the polyp becomes, the bigger the risk of it developing into colon cancer.
Your doctor can't usually tell, simply by looking at a polyp during a colonoscopy, if it's cancerous. But if a polyp is found during your colonoscopy, your doctor will remove it and send it to a lab for a biopsy to check for cancerous or precancerous cells.
In multivariable analysis, the presence of 5 or more polyps at index colonoscopy was found to be associated with the risk of metachronous HR-CRN (OR, 2.575, p = 0.049) after adjusting for risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, and smoking.
Most people with polyps won't be aware of them as they produce no symptoms and are often discovered by accident. However, some larger polyps can cause: a small amount of rectal bleeding (blood in your stool) mucus to be produced when you open your bowels.
The doctor will then send any removed polyps to a pathologist for a biopsy to see if cancer is present. If the biopsy reveals that cancer is present, then cancer specialists will outline a treatment plan for the person. Common treatments for colon cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.
Smoking, obesity, diabetes, and inadequate exercise are risk factors for polyps, but many people with none of these risk factors have precancerous polyps in the colon. There are genetic risk factors for developing polyps as well.
Most polyps grow slowly and take from between 10 and 15 years to become cancerous. Due to this general time frame, most screenings are scheduled every 10 years which gives Colorectal Surgical Associates time to remove any polyps before they become cancerous.
Depending on their size and location in the colon, serrated polyps may become cancerous. Small, serrated polyps in the lower colon, also known as hyperplastic polyps, are rarely malignant. Larger serrated polyps, which are typically flat (sessile), difficult to detect and located in the upper colon, are precancerous.
Cancerous polyps may cause no symptoms at all. But if you do have symptoms, they depend on where the polyp is located: Colorectal polyps may cause belly pain, constipation, diarrhea or blood in your poop. Stomach polyps may cause nausea, belly pain, vomiting and bleeding.
Colorectal cancer can occur without polyps, but it is thought to be an uncommon event. Individuals with long-standing inflammatory bowel diseases, such as chronic ulcerative colitis and Crohn's colitis, are at increased risk for developing colorectal cancer that occurs in the absence of obvious polyps.
A colonoscopy procedure typically takes 30-60 minutes, depending on whether the doctor needs to remove polyps or take biopsies. However, patients and caregivers should plan to spend 2-3 hours total at the hospital or endoscopy center to account for the time needed for preparation and recovery.
Colon polyp development involves genetic and epigenetic changes and environmental effectors such as stress in this process can drive the normal colonic epithelial cells to hyperplastic and adenomas [25-27].
"Sometimes they just go away on their own, but removing polyps is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which we can prevent the formation of cancer in the first place." That's why regular screening is so important. The downside is that if a polyp is found in your colon, you may have to get screened more frequently.
Cancerous polyps tend to grow slowly. It is estimated that the polyp dwell time, the time needed for a small adenoma to transform into a cancer, may be on average 10 years (17). Evidence from the heyday of barium enema examinations indicates that most polyps do not grow or grow very slowly (18).
It takes approximately 10 years for a small polyp to develop into cancer. Family history and genetics — Polyps and colon cancer tend to run in families, suggesting that genetic factors are important in their development.
Once a colorectal polyp is completely removed, it rarely comes back. However, at least 30% of patients will develop new polyps after removal. For this reason, your physician will advise follow-up testing to look for new polyps. This is usually done 3 to 5 years after polyp removal.
If a polyp has cancerous cells, they will also biopsy nearby lymph nodes to determine if the cancer has spread or metastasized to other areas of the body. In this case radiation, chemotherapy or other therapies may be recommended. Colonoscopy screenings can be life saving!
Common Symptoms of Colon Polyps
Changes in Bowel Movements – Sometimes colon polyps can lead to constipation or diarrhea that persists for longer than a week, as well as general changes in bowel habits.
Symptoms of bowel polyps
Bowel polyps do not usually cause any symptoms, so most people with polyps will not know they have them. They're often picked up during screening for bowel cancer. But some larger polyps can cause: a small amount of slime (mucus) or blood in your poo (rectal bleeding)
Colon polyps and diverticulitis have similar symptoms that include: Abdominal pain. Bloating. Constipation.