Polypectomy (the surgical removal of polyps by colonoscopy) of small polyps found during CT colonography is costly and unnecessary according to a study performed at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, WI.

IMGP is characterized by inflammatory granulation tissue in the lamina propria, proliferation of smooth muscle, and hyperplastic glands with variable cystic change. Only a small number of cases have been reported and the pathogenesis and natural history remain unclear.

Flat, non-polypoid colorectal neoplasms (NP-CRNs), which may be difficult to detect, appear to be relatively common and may have a greater association with cancer compared with the more routinely diagnosed type of colorectal polyps, according to a study in the March 5 issue of JAMA.

How well ocean reefs recover from the growing damage caused by warming sea temperatures depends both on how much the tiny coral polyps can eat, and how healthy they can keep the microscopic algae that live inside their bodies.

Tumor growth has commonly been viewed as a result of mutations in a given cell that will therefore proliferate uncontrollably. However, a study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has demonstrated that in certain type of gastrointestinal polyps, the cause of tumor development are mutations in the smooth muscle cells, previously regarded as “innocent bystanders”.

Smokers have a two-fold increased risk of developing colorectal polyps, the suspected underlying cause of most colorectal cancers (CRC), according to a study published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

Contrary to expectations, diets high in the nutrient choline were associated with an increased risk of some colorectal polyps, which can—but do not always—lead to colorectal cancer, according to a study published online in the August 7 Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Phenotypic flexibility enables multicellular organisms to adjust morphologies to variable environmental challenges. Such plastic variations are also documented in reef corals. Coral colonies are made of multiple genetically identical physiologically integrated modules (polyps).