The association of Streptococcus bovis fecal carriage and colon neoplasia: possible relationship with polyps and their premalignant potential.

We designed a study to evaluate the fecal carrier rate of Streptococcus bovis in patients with endoscopically proven colonic polyps. Benign polyps (n = 63), i.e., hyperplastic, inflammatory, and juvenile, had a similar fecal carrier rate as the normal control colons. Colons with polyps that are at increased risk for malignant degeneration (n = 62), i.e., tubulovillous and villous adenomas, and colons with carcinoma (n = 18), had a statistically significant increase (p less than 0.05) in the fecal carrier rate for S. bovis over the benign colon group. Overall, the incidence of S. bovis carriage in all colons with polyps was intermediary between normal colons and colons with carcinoma although the numbers did not achieve statistical significance.