[Clinical significance of the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Results of a retrospective study]

Follow-up checks were applied to 81 of 140 patients with 249 adenomas of the large intestine. The results obtained from that study are reported in this paper. The generally known dependence of adenoma carcinoma sequence on histology, size, and basis of adenomas was confirmed. Since patients with adenoma are exposed to higher risk of carcinoma, colonic polyps, basically, should be removed as a form of cancer prophylaxis, and patients concerned should be regularly monitored. A follow-up programme is proposed in this paper, with reference being made to the authors' own rates of recurrence and to those reported in the literature.