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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Apr 15, 2016; 8(4): 351-357
Published online Apr 15, 2016. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i4.351
Status of colitis-associated cancer in ulcerative colitis
Tetsushi Kinugasa, Yoshito Akagi
Tetsushi Kinugasa, Yoshito Akagi, Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka 830-0011, Japan
Author contributions: Kinugasa T contributed to concept and design; both authors contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Tetsushi Kinugasa, Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011, Japan. kinugasa_tetsushi@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-942-353311 Fax: +81-942-340709
Received: April 28, 2015
Peer-review started: May 5, 2015
First decision: July 1, 2015
Revised: January 24, 2016
Accepted: February 16, 2016
Article in press: February 17, 2016
Published online: April 15, 2016
Processing time: 336 Days and 20.4 Hours
Abstract

Surgical therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) depends on the medical therapy administered for the patient’s condition. UC is a benign disease. However, it has been reported that the rare cases of cancer in UC patients are increasing, and such cases have a worse prognosis. Recently, surgical therapy has greatly changed, there has been quite an increase in the number of UC patients with high-grade dysplasia and/or cancer. These lesions are known as colitis-associated cancer (CAC). The relationship between inflammation and tumorigenesis is well-established, and in the last decade, a great deal of supporting evidence has been obtained from genetic, pharmacological, and epidemiological studies. Inflammatory bowel disease, especially UC, is an important risk factor for the development of colon cancer. We should determine the risk factors for UC patients with cancer based on a large body of data, and we should attempt to prevent the increase in the number of such patients using these newly identified risk factors in the near future. Actively introducing the surgical treatment in addition to medical treatment should be considered. Several physicians should analyze UC from their unique perspectives in order to establish new clinically relevant diagnostic and treatment methods in the future. This article discusses CAC, including its etiology, mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment in UC patients.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Ulcerative colitis; Colitis-associated cancer; Surgical therapy; Colorectal cancer surveillance

Core tip: Inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis, is an important risk factor for development of colon cancer. There has been quite increased in the number of patients who had high-grade dysplasia and/or cancer. The relationship between inflammation and tumorigenesis is well-established and in the last decade has received a great deal of supporting evidence from genetic, pharmacological, and epidemiological data. To avoid such a problem, there is a need for appropriate diagnosis and treatment. It should be considered that actively introduce the surgical treatment in addition to medical treatment.