Study suggests close colonoscopy surveillance for patients with serrated polyposis syndrome and their family

USA: A new study indicated that patients with serrated polyposis syndrome (SPS) and their first-degree relatives (FDRs) had a higher colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, correlating with previous data. Surprisingly, people with sessile serrated lesion (SSL) were shown to have a higher risk of prostate cancer. The findings of this study were published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Patients with sporadic SSL are at risk of developing CRC. However, the family risks of common extracolonic malignancies and especially CRC in these cohorts remain unknown. The following study was conducted by Priyanka Kanth and the team with the objective to look at cancer risk in individuals with SPS and sporadic SSL, as well as their near and distant relatives using a huge population database. 

For this study patients with SPS from inherited patient registries (n = 59) were eligible for the research. Clinical data linked to the Utah Population Database were used to identify sporadic SSL (n = 754) and sex- and age-matched normal colonoscopy controls (n = 1,624). Cox models were used to estimate CRC, extracolonic, and any-site adenocarcinoma/carcinoma cancer risk in patients and their families, after correcting for the number of relatives, degree of relatedness, and person-years at risk.

The major findings of this study are:

1. CRC risk was increased 10-fold in individuals with SPS and 5-fold in their FDRs when compared with controls.

2. In FDRs of SPS patients, the chance of any-site adenoma/carcinoma was raised 2.6-fold.

3. SPS and family members had no increased risk of other prevalent extracolonic malignancies.

4. FDRs, second-degree relatives, and third-degree relatives of patients with SSL and adenomatous polyps had a 50% greater risk of CRC.

In conclusion, relatives of patients with sporadic SSL and adenomas, regardless of size or dysplasia on examination, may have an increased CRC risk, indicating that better colonoscopy surveillance in this population is warranted.

Reference:

Kanth, P., Yu, Z., Keener, M. B., Koptiuch, C., Kohlmann, W. K., Neklason, D. W., Westover, M., & Curtin, K. (2021). Cancer Risk in Patients With and Relatives of Serrated Polyposis Syndrome and Sporadic Sessile Serrated Lesions. In American Journal of Gastroenterology: Vol. Publish Ahead of Print. Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). https://doi.org/10.14309/ajg.0000000000001572