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 populations 1.

The more difficult to detect flat adenomas account for about 10% of all lesions and may have a greater propensity to malignant change 2, 3.

Only a small proportion of polyps (1-10%) develop into invasive bowel cancer 4. Indicators for progression from adenomas to cancer include large size, villous histology and severe dysplasia5.

 
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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.