Early colon screening of adult patients with cystic fibrosis reveals high incidence of adenomatous colon polyps

Background and Goals: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with increased incidence of gastrointestinal cancer. Increasing overall life expectancy of CF patients predicts emergence of colon canceras a significant clinical problem in the adult CF population. The primary aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of adenomatous colon polyps in patients with CF during systematic screening by colonoscopy.Background and Goals: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with increased incidence of gastrointestinal cancer. Increasing overall life expectancy of CF patients predicts emergence of colon cancer as a significant clinical problem in the adult CF population. The primary aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of adenomatous colon polyps in patients with CF during systematic screening by colonoscopy.Results: Adult CF patients have a high incidence of adenomatous polyps identified by colonoscopy. In addition, positive examinations are characterized by multiple polyps and common features of advanced pathology. The incidence of adenomatous colon polyps is greater in male patients, although the 1 patient in this cohort found to have colorectal cancer was female. Conclusions: CF has features of a hereditary colon cancer syndrome. Increasing life expectancy of CF patients suggests that earlier colon screening in this population may be warranted. Optimal criteria for initiation of screening and frequency of surveillance should be subject of further studies.