Most cases of colorectal cancer develop from adenomas or sessile serrated polyps, and removal of these lesions is recommended. However, hyperplastic polyps, especially if small (<5 mm) and located in the distal part of the large bowel, are not associated with subsequent development of adenomas or colorectal cancer. Therefore, they do not have to be removed to reduce cancer risk. Leaving these polyps unresected would save time and expense; the annual cost of unnecessary polypectomy of hyperplastic polyps is estimated to be $33 million in the United States.
Øyvind Holme, associated professor at the University of Oslo, this week published an editorial in Annals of Internal Medicine on how standardized computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) can help reduce costs and improve health care.
The editorial Making Colonoscopy Smarter With Standardized Computer-Aided Diagnosis is authored by Øyvind Holme and Lars Aabakken.