133 - Dysplasia - Carcinoma Sequence in the Colon Flashcards
Precursor lesions for colorectal carcinoma
– Tubular adenoma: sessile or pedunculated
– Villous adenoma: often large & sessile
– Tubulovillous adenoma: mixed features
Predictors of increased malignant risk:
1
2
3 a, b, c
– Polyp size (>1cm)
– Villous morphology
– High grade dysplasia
• Severe crowding with loss of nuclear polarity
• Marked nuclear variation (pleomorphism)
• Cribriform intramucosal growth (gland fusion)
Familial syndrome with a ~100% risk of developing colon cancer
Familial adenomatous polyposis
Pedunculated tubular adenoma appearance
Pedunculated, red mass on luminal wall of large intestine.
Can bleed into lumen.
Sits atop a stem,
Sessile villous adenoma
Can be very large without invasion (in colon)
Risks for early-onset colorectal cancer
1
2
1) Familial syndromes
2) Chronic inflammatory bowel disease
Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases that can predispose to early-onset colorectal cancer
1
2
1) Ulcerative colitis
2) Crohn’s disease
Familial adenomatous polyposis inheritance
• Autosomal dominant syndrome
– APC gene mutation (chromosome 5q21-22)
– > 100 adenomatous polyps in the large bowel
– Extracolonic manifestations
Familial adenomatous polyposis incidence
• High incidence of early onset colorectal carcinoma:
– 10% in patients observed for 5 years, 50% over 20 years
– Most progress to carcinoma by age 30
– Role for prophylactic colectomy
Severities of familial adenomatous polyposis
• If >1000 polyps
– 60%-80% likelihood of detecting pathogenic APC gene mutation
– 2.3x greater risk of cancer than in patients with 100-1000 polyps
Attenuated familial adenmatous polyposis variant
•
Adenomatous polyp histology
1
2
3 a, b, c
• Abnormal crypt architecture (tubular or villiform)
• Dysplasia
• No invasion beyond muscularis mucosae
– Absence of lymphatics in lamina propria
– Complete excision curative
– Polypectomy, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR)
Features of dysplasia in familial adenomatous polyposis 1 2 3 4 5
– Crowded cells
– Enlarged, hyperchromatic, pseudostratified nuclei
– Abnormal complexity to glandular architecture
– Goblet cell depletion
– Increased mitotic count +/- atypical mitoses
Most common polyp in the bowel
Benign lesion. Hyperplastic polyps.
Appearance of villous adenoma
Finger-like projections of epithelium.
Have goblet cells
Features of high-grade dysplasia
1
2
1) Loss of polarity of epithelial cells
2) Fused glands in the mucosa.
What is an adenomatous polyp?
A dysplastic polyp in the bowel
When does an adenomatous polyp become colorectal adenocarcinoma?
When it invades beyond the muscularis mucosae.
There is a dermoplastic stromal reaction
Genetic pathways to colorectal cancer
1) Chromosomal instability (most common)
2) Microsatellite instability
3) CpG island methylator phenotype
Chromosomal instablity pathway
– Familial adenomatous polyposis (1% CRC)
– 75%-85% of sporadic CRC (colorectal cancer)
Common genetic changes in dysplasia carcinoma sequence
1
2
3
1) Loss of APC function
2) Chromosomal instability (most common)
3) Accumulated mutations
Loss of APC function
1
2
3
1) Decreased cell adhesion and increased cellular proliferation
2) APC mutation an early event in adenoma formation
3) Multiple adenomas in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis