Update on colorectal polyps and polyposis syndromes

Colorectal polyps are frequently encountered in daily pathology practice. The accurate diagnosis of these polyps forms a key component of clinical care, both in determining the malignant potential (and thus the follow-up interval for colonoscopy) as well as raising suspicion for polyposis syndromes. As such, the pathologist plays an instrumental role in the care of patients with colon polyps. This review highlights the histologic features of several commonly (and uncommonly) encountered colon polyps and provides genetic and clinical features of several polyposis syndromes that can be diagnosed (or at least suspected) when evaluating biopsies of colon polyps.