Can colorectal polyps cause colorectal cancer?

It is clear that at least 80-95% of colorectal cancers “evolve” step by step from intestinal polyps: small polyps → large polyps → severe atypical hyperplasia → carcinoma in situ → invasive carcinoma. Generally, this process may take 5-10 years, but some people can progress very fast. For example, patients with familial adenomatous polyposis have large and small polyps growing in their intestines from a very young age, and cancer is inevitable. While polyps are usually more likely to develop with age, people with a family history of colorectal cancer may develop polyps at a younger age and therefore have a greater risk of developing cancer than the general population. Endoscopic polyp removal is less invasive and has a shorter hospital stay, cutting off the path to polyp cancer. At present, some drugs such as aspirin may help to prevent new polyps, but there are no drugs that can effectively treat polyps that have already formed. Endoscopic resection or surgical removal is the standard of treatment with definite results. Polyps are found, even if they are removed, the intestinal environment is not changed and there is a possibility of recurrence, so patients who have had a history of colon polyps should be reviewed. After removal of single benign polyps, it is recommended to review once a year for the first 2-3 years, and if there is no recurrence, it means that the probability of recurrence of polyps is small, and then it can be changed to once every 5-10 years. Those who have the condition can shorten the review according to individual situation.