Colonic polyps: antecedent- or associated-lesions of large bowel cancer.

Many pathologists, gastroenterologists, and oncologists agree that villous (papillary) adenomas of the large bowel are at risk for the development of large bowel cancer. The role of adenomatous polyps (tubular adenomas) in the genesis of large bowel cancer is not a point of agreement. Future studies with molecular biologic techniques of colon polyps and adjacent mucosa and of the colonic mucosa of animals under treatment with colon carcinogens may clarify the role of colon polyps and other factors in the genesis of large bowel cancer. Polyps larger than 1.0 cm should be removed thrugh the proctosigmoidscope or the colonoscope.