Quantifying Colorectal Cancer Risk Associated with Serrated Polyps

Serrated polyps — sessile serrated polyps (SSPs) and traditional serrated adenomas (TSAs) — are associated with increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). To better quantify that risk, researchers conducted a population-based case-control study involving 2045 patients with CRC and 8105 cancer-free patients in Denmark. They identified 876 patients with hyperplastic polyps found on the first endoscopy and reexamined their lesions to classify the serrated histology using World Health Organization criteria; 29% were either SSPs or TSAs, and 25% could not be classified.

Compared with polyp-free patients, the risk for CRC was significantly elevated in patients with SSPs (odds ratio, 3.07), either with (OR, 4.76) or without (OR, 2.75) cytological …