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Bowel Cancer histology

This page presents information on the histology of bowel cancer.

More than 90% of bowel cancer cases are adenocarcinomas and the majority of these arise from adenomatous polyps (adenomas) . These common benign tumours develop from normal colonic mucosa and are present in about a third of the European and USA populations1.

The more difficult to detect flat adenomas account for about 10% of all lesions and may have a greater propensity to malignant change2,3.

Only a small proportion of polyps (1-10%) develop into invasive bowel cancer4. Indicators for progression from adenomas to cancer include large size, villous histology and severe dysplasia5.

References

1. Midgley, R. and D. Kerr, Colorectal cancer Lancet, 1999. 353: p. 391-399.
2. Hardy, R., S. Meltzer, and J. Jankowski, ABC of colorectal cancer: Molecular basis for risk factors. BMJ, 2000. 321: p. 886-889.
3. O'Brien, M.J, Winawer, S.J, Zauber, A.J, et al. Flat adenomas in the National Polyp Study: is there increased risk for high grade dysplasia initially or during surveillance. BMJ, 2000. 321: p. 886-889.
4. Scholefield, J., ABC of colorectal cancer: Screening. BMJ, 2000. 321: p. 1004-1006.
5. Terry, M., et al., Risk factors for advanced colorectal adenomas: A pooled analysis. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 2002. 11: p. 622-629.

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