Colorectal Cancer and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease accounts for ∼5% of all cases of CRC. Although it only accounts for a fraction of CRC cases, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-related CRC is a serious consequence of chronic inflammation that needs attention. There is a better understanding today about the pathogenesis contributing to IBD-CRC and the role of genetics and gut microbiota. Guidelines recommend timely screening and surveillance of UC and Crohn's patients, and it is usually timed from the initial diagnosis. This helps with early detection of dysplasia and CRC in this subset of patients, thus allowing for earlier intervention. However, dysplasia is not always easy to discern and management of CRC in each patient may differ. A multidisciplinary approach should be adopted in managing CRC in IBD. Although the oncologic principles of managing sporadic CRC and IBD-CRC are the same, surgical resection should be tailored to each patient.

Keywords: Crohn's disease; colorectal cancer; ileal pouch; inflammatory bowel disease; ulcerative colitis.

Fig. 1

Suggested algorithm for screening and the management of dysplasia found in inflammatory bowel disease patients.