The Cancer “Fear” in IBD Patients: Is It Still REAL?

Increased rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) with high rates of progression from dysplasia to CRC are well documented in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) population. This increased risk in the presence of currently improving but still inadequate surveillance techniques confirms that the cancer “fear” in IBD patients is still real. The majority of data on the cancer risk in IBD has been gathered from ulcerative colitis (UC) patients as these patients are generally better studied. Thus surveillance and treatment protocols for Crohn’s disease (CD) are frequently modeled on UC paradigms. Dysplasia in the IBD cohort frequently is a harbinger of local, distant, or metachronous neoplasia. Therefore, frequent surveillance and referral for surgical intervention when dysplasia is detected are justified in both the CD and UC patient.