Are Hyperplastic Polyps Precursors of Colorectal Cancer?

Adenomatous polyps, but not hyperplastic polyps, traditionally are considered to be precursors of colorectal cancer. But new research suggests that hyperplastic polyps also may be . . .

Adenomatous polyps, but not hyperplastic polyps, traditionally are considered to be precursors of colorectal cancer. But new research suggests that hyperplastic polyps also may be associated with some colorectal cancers. These cancers are particularly likely to have microsatellite instability (MSI) -- an abnormality in non-protein-coding portions of DNA -- and tend to occur in the right side of the colon.

Australian investigators examined resection specimens from 355 patients who underwent curative resections of colorectal cancer. They identified 29 cases of sporadic colorectal cancer that showed MSI on analysis of tumor DNA and compared these cases with 29 control cases of colorectal cancer that did not show MSI. The 2 groups of patients ha…

Reviewing Author

AS Brett