Adenoma Polyp at 20

[Lemons]

Hello all,

I recently noticed some black flakes in my stool and underwent a colonoscopy. Pathology report was largely positive with nothing seriously abnormal other than hemorrhoids. I did, however, have a medium-sized adenoma polyp. Dr wants me to have another Colonoscopy in 5 years. I understand adenoma polyps are not cancerous but are considered precancerous. From my understanding it seems like as long as I have these polyps removed every 5ish years (assuming they keep growing back) there is not much to worry about. Is this correct reasoning or should I be more worried?

[del]

Yes, removing polyps is a preventative measure, much like removing suspicious moles to prevent skin cancer. I would push for an earlier scope though, maybe 1-2 years. If nothing is found, you can space them out further. 20 is young to have polyps, so you might have some genetic predisposition to them.

[Lemons]

That makes sense. Thank you

[Lee]

I agree. When I was diagnosed, my brother got checked out, he was fine, not even 1 polyp. However his wife lied to a doctor said she was passing blood, got scoped, they removed a few polyps (she was 42-43). Was told to come back in about 10 years, she decided to only wait 3 years, they scoped her again, and they found polyps. Now they want her to get scoped every 3 yrs.

Good luck,

Lee

[O Stoma Mia]

The U.S guidelines for colonoscopy follow-up intervals are listed here:

https://gi.org/guideline/guidelines-for-colonoscopy-surveillance-after-screening-and-polypectomy-a-consensus-update-by-the-us-multi-society-task-force-on-colorectal-cancer/

According to these guidelines (Table 1), the recommended followup interval in your case would be "5 - 10 years", assuming your adenoma was a tubular adenoma. However, these guidelines are only for patients with "average baseline risk". Your case might be different. Your adenoma might have been a different type, not tubular. Furthermore, you might not have "average baseline risk".

To check on your risk profile, you can read the article below. It gives both "average risk" and "high risk" profiles:

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html

Also, your risk profile might be further elevated due to certain life-style risk factors, such as smoking:

https://www.webmd.com/men/news/20031209/what-causes-prevents-colon-polyps

If you are in fact an average baseline risk patient, then this article may me relevant to your case:

https://www.stopcoloncancernow.com/spread-awareness/news/frequency-of-repeat-colonoscopy-in-average-risk-patients

[Lemons]

All of the responses I’ve received have been tremendously helpful. Thank you all. It sounds like I need to seriously consider having another Colonoscopy within 5 years rather than waiting until I’m 25, especially considering the fact that I have a family history of corectal cancer which I assume ups the risk factor for me.