Abstract
OBJECTIVE: In recent decades, there has been an increase in early-onset colorectal cancer, the need to screen individuals younger than 50 years of age, and the presence of histopathological differences remains unclear. The objective of this study was to explore the occurrence of polyps in both young adults and older individuals and to examine their potential correlation with colorectal cancer. METHODS: In this retrospective study conducted between July 1, 2018, and October 5, 2022, in the Pathology Laboratory, we designed a study based on the histopathological features of colorectal polyps evaluated by an experienced gastrointestinal pathologist based on the WHO 2019 classification. RESULTS: We evaluated 735 consecutive patients who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy between July 2018 and October 2022. The prevalence of cases under the age of 50 was 13.9%, and adults over the age of 50 was 86.1%. A total of 1269 polyps were detected, 1215 (95.7%) were epithelial polyps and 145 (11.9%) were epithelial polyps under the age of 50. One hundred four conventional adenomas and four intramucosal carcinomas were detected in cases younger than 50 years. The patients in the low-risk adenoma group was 57%, and the rate of patients in the high-risk adenoma group was 14.9%. Overall, polyps were most common in the sigmoid colon and there was a statistically significant difference between detecting tubular adenomas in the sigmoid colon (P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our current results confirm the detection of sporadic colorectal adenomas and advanced neoplasia in young adults.It is important to establish professional community guidelines for surveillance colonoscopy in these age groups.