Complications of Crohn's disease predisposing to dysplasia and cancer of the intestinal tract: considerations of a surveillance program.

Carcinomas of the ileum and colon in patients with Crohn's disease are being reported with such increasing frequency as to raise the question of a surveillance program to find dysplasia or the carcinoma itself at the earliest possible time. Accordingly, we consider the overall risk with emphasis on specific manifestations of Crohn's disease which predispose to malignancy so that the surveillance might be given special direction. Two more cases of carcinoma in Crohn's disease are reported, one in association with a long-standing fistula, the other with synchronous, metachronous, and multifocal lesions, and both with dysplasia.