As medical workup gets increasingly popular, polyp has become a common concern. In most cases, polyp is benign and poses no threat to human life. But some polyps are likely to turn into malignant tumors and require timely medical attention, for example, polyps occurring on stomach and colon.
Gastric Polyp
Gastric polyp is a kind of neoplasm growing on the surface of gastric mucosa and usually asymptomatic. Sometimes it might cause dull pain in upper abdomen, indigestion and even nausea and vomiting in some cases.
It is divided into fundic gland polyp, hyperplastic polyp triggered by chronic inflammation and cancer-prone adenomatous polyp. Normally gastric polyp, even just small adenoma should be resected. Because as adenomatous polyp expands, it is more prone to cancer. As of now, endoscopic resection and surgery are major approaches.
Colorectal Polyp
Colorectal polyp is protruding lesion growing on colorectal mucosa. In general, colorectal polyp falls into two types: non-adenomatous polyp and adenomatous polyp. It is believed that non-adenomatous polyp is not associated with colorectal cancer, for instance, inflammatory polyps and proliferative polyps, while adenomatous polyp proves to be a precancerous lesion. 95% colorectal cancer originates from adenoma of colon, according to the study.
However, the tendency to turn into malignant tumor is also related with patient’s age, the number of polyps and their size. Single or double polyps mostly are less prone to cancer, but more it scatters,more increased risk of cancer.
Colorectal polyp should be resected to avoid other possible disease or progress to colorectal cancer.
Doctor’s Word
Patient should regulate their lifestyle after resection to avoid recurrence. And schedule follow-up visit as told by doctor for early detection and early intervention.