Colorectal cancer risk in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease are at increased risk to develop colorectal cancer. The pathogenesis of both, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is still unknown, and cure is not possible. Therefore primary prevention of colorectal cancer in these patients is of special interest Cancer risk of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease a highly dependent the; duration of disease, extent of inflammation in the large bowel and probably of the age at onset of the disease. Colorectal cancer in inflammatory bowel disease results on the basis of the dysplasia-carcinoma sequence. In in molecular carcinogenesis, different steps of cancer development have been identified. Those as well as the clinical appearance demonstrate, that differences between sporadic colorectal cancer and cancer in inflammatory bowel disease exist Surveillance, which consists of regular colonoscopy and biopsy taking, is still controversial However; it represents the only realistic form of carcinoma prevention at the present time. This article summarizes our current knowledge about pathogenesis and risk evaluation and proposes a surveillance program.