Polyp found: What's next?

Sorry, She read the report and it says 1.5cm pedunculated. The others were smaller sessile polyps. So will wait for results but feel better that it’s not 1”!

Were they able to remove it at that size or just do a biopsy? That size I would personally consider a tumor and not a polyp. It takes about 2 weeks for results sometimes sooner. They will let you know at that stage if it is cancerous or not. Removal will be imperative, to prevent it from becoming cancerous if it is not already. Was it a bleeding mass do you know and did they refer you to a surgeon? That would be the next step regardless if its cancer or not for the removal. If it’s bleeding I would do it sooner than later.

Thank you for your response.
She thought she was told 1 inch but the report says 1.5cm. I hope she just heard wrong. They didn’t say anything was bleeding. He used something hot too remove it - I’m assuming to cauterize? Doesn’t sound like anything was left.

That sounds very promising! It they were able to get it all and say that the margins were clear then all should be good. I imagine they will want to do colonoscopies sooner than 10 year intervals. But if they were able to get it all that sounds amazing! 🙂

@debdebkrz, thank you for correcting the original concern. I'm so glad that the polyp wasn't 1 inch. What is the next step for your family member?

Waiting to hear the results of the biopsies, Dr wants her to make an appointment to discuss family history and what next. He said depending on results, next colonoscopy should be in a year (or maybe 2) but sooner than regular screening.

I had a pulyp removed last Friday and am waiting on pathology, just wondering if 1 6 mm pulyp could be cancerous?

I had a polyp removed on my next to last colonoscopy.
Biopsy showed "pre cancerous"
Result: We moved up my next colonoscopy from 5 years to 3 years
Negative result on next colonoscopy

That's good I'm praying it's not

@wendypeacock
I know it can be scary waiting. It is good they found the polyp and removed it.

I have a family history of colon cancer and when I was in my early 40s, I asked to get a colonoscopy. They gave me a hard time at first since I was younger than the typical age for the procedure (50+). After they did it, they found and removed the polyp. I don’t remember what the pathology showed but just glad it was found early and removed. They then had me come back every 5 years and after 3 more colonoscopies, no additional polyps have been found. I did not need any radiation or chemotherapy after they removed my colon polyp.

I do believe size matters when it comes to precancerous or cancerous polyps. I had a 2.5 cm suspicious nodule removed from my thyroid lobe and it turned out benign but they found a micro cancer elsewhere in my lobe. I did not need any radiation or chemotherapy because the entire lobe was removed with the micro cancer. They are now monitoring my left lobe for changes.

Removing polyps when smaller is definitely better. Your 6 mm polyp luckily falls in the smaller size category.

1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/colon-polyp-cancer-risk
2. https://www.verywellhealth.com/colon-polyp-size-chart-8659874
3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/colon-polyp-size-chart
4. https://www.healthline.com/health/colorectal-cancer/colon-polyp-size-chart
5. https://gastro.org/news/does-polyp-size-matter/