need answers

[sassy1122]

I had a colonoscopy a couple of years ago my question is what is a sigmoid colon-hyperplastic polyp

[kay5310]

HI, My husband was 61 with no prior health problems other than arthritis.  He had a colonoscopy 3.5 years before and was found to have one small hyperplastic polyp in his sigmoid colon (lower colon)  In Jan. of 2009 he started having right rib area pain that came and went, but returned over a two week period more intensely.  He went to the hospital and was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer with the primary tumor in the hepatic flexure (where colon lies close to the liver).  He died in 8/2009.  He previously had no symptoms of colon cancer ie: blood in stool, weight loss, nausea,vomiting.  So obviously his cancer was missed or it grew from a polyp to stage 4 cancer within this 3.5 years.  He also had cancer spread to his liver in all lobes which was inoperable with no symptoms other than the rib pain that he went to the hopital for.

[Romona]

Hi,  your reply to Sassy1122 is a bit abstruse, ie, the last sentence...to me anyway.  Do you mean shorter periods than 10 years between colonoscopies could raise a higher possibility of malignancy??

[HeinrikMD]

Hi,

The lining of the colon is composed of numerous glands. The lining tends to get sloughed off such that the normal stool composition has elements from the lining of the colon.  The colon must therefore develop new elements to replace those that are removed. Within this setting of continuous replacement, an abnormal outgrowth (you can imagine it as a bump out into the canal where the stool passes and is processed, or as something resembling a plant with a stem) could develop. This is the polyp. Hyperplasia refers to an increased  number of cells, the increased number contributes to a greater mass.

Abnormal findings on colonoscopy range between an adenoma (which is a growth from glandular elements) to adenocarcinoma (which is frank malignancy from glandular elements). The timing of subsequent colonoscopy would tell whether any particular finding would behave between the two extremes. Adenomas are advised to have a repeat after 10 years, so shorter periods raise a higher possibility of developing malignancy.