Can intestinal polyp become cancerous?

Intestinal polyps are growths that grow on the mucosal surface of the intestine.

Here we are mainly talking about polyps in the large intestine. Before they become polyps, they are an ordinary piece of normal intestinal mucosa in the large intestine (the colorectal).

Absorb water and electrolytes for the body every day, and ward off harmful substances such as bacteria in the gut.

Normal intestinal epithelium requires constant replacement.

The old generation of intestinal mucosal epithelial cells will be shed and excreted with feces, and replaced by new intestinal epithelial cells to maintain the dynamic balance of intestinal mucosa between old and new.

In this process, the gene expression of some cells may be changed due to genetics, bad living habits, chronic inflammatory stimulation, exposure to harmful substances and other reasons, resulting in the imbalance of mucosal epithelial cell overgrowth.

In order to obtain enough space and nutrition, on the one hand, the overgrown epithelial cells expand outward to the mucosa, on the other hand, new blood vessels constantly form, thus becoming a "meatball" with rich blood supply protruding outside the intestinal mucosal plane, that is, what we call "polyp".

Sometimes it breaks and bleeds from friction, and sometimes it's secondary to infection and mucus in the stool.

With the gradual development of polyps, the new cells will show more and more obvious heterogeneity, and appear atypical hyperplasia with stronger growth ability, and finally malignant transformation, which is called carcinoma in situ.

After the malignant transformation, the cells obtained different degrees of enhanced proliferation and survival ability and invasiveness, which may eventually protrude out of the intestinal lumen to form a large local mass, may also spread around and longitudinally along the intestinal wall, or invade deep into the intestinal wall and become aggressive cancer.

Metastases form when they invade the blood and lymph ducts, which may spread throughout the body with blood and lymph fluid.