Colon And Rectal Cancer

If polyps are found during the colonoscopy, the specialist would have removed and sent it for microscopic examination - biopsy.

If the biopsy shows that the polyp

1. is cancerous- you may need surgery to remove the portion of the colon where the polyp was removed.
2. is precancerous - (all variety of adenomas) - you will need a periodic colonoscopy at a a regular interval depending on the number of other risk factors you may have -such as family history of colon cancer, number & size polyps you had & how "bad" the precancerous polyps were on biopsies.
3. Hyperplastic- usually of no concern. However, this subject has become a debate point lately & some scientists do believe that these polyps too may be a sign that you are at a risk of developing precancerous polyps later on.

There are other rare types too but that subject is beyond the discussion in this forum.

The purpose of the screening colon test is 1. look for colon cancer 2. look for precancerous polyps & remove them so that cancer can be prevented.

Colonoscopy is the only test which can do the second task & it has the highest sensitivity & specificity out of all the other tests. As such the preferred test is colonoscopy. However, this test involves sedation with medications & has a slightly higher risk of complications than the other tests. As such, very frail, elderly people or people who have severe multiple medical problems or problems with sedation or worried about the risks may consider other "less " invasive tests such as testing for hidden blood in the stool, CT colography & Barium x rays etc. If these tests become abnormal, then colonoscopy will be indicated to find what this "abnormality" is.