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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2016; 8(12): 805-809
Published online Dec 15, 2016. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v8.i12.805
From traditional serrated adenoma to tubulovillous adenoma and beyond
Sangeetha N Kalimuthu, Adeline Chelliah, Runjan Chetty
Sangeetha N Kalimuthu, Adeline Chelliah, Runjan Chetty, Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine Program, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Toronto M5G 2C4, Canada
Author contributions: Kalimuthu SN and Chetty R contributed equally in the planning, conceptualizing, conducting and writing of the manuscript; Chelliah A contributed in the conducting of this review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Authors declare there is no conflict of interest 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: Runjan Chetty, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine Program, University Health Network and University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street, 11th Floor, Eaton Wing, Toronto M5G 2C4, Canada. runjan.chetty@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-416-3405319 Fax: +1-416-3405517
Received: May 3, 2016
Peer-review started: May 3, 2016
First decision: June 13, 2016
Revised: August 4, 2016
Accepted: September 13, 2016
Article in press: September 18, 2016
Published online: December 15, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Traditional serrated adenoma (TSA) is the least common type of the serrated polyps and is characterized by a constellation of distinct cytomorphological features. TSAs are thought to be precursors to the biologically aggressive, BRAF mutated, microsatellite stable, colorectal cancer. It is becoming increasingly evident that TSAs can co-exist with other serrated polyps including hyperplastic polyps and sessile serrated adenomas. In addition, TSAs may also be seen with adenomatous polyps. In this review, we wish to highlight the issues around nomenclature, diagnostic criteria, coexistence with other polyp types, the occurrence of dysplasia and molecular pathways involved in the neoplastic progression of TSAs.