Risk factors for advanced colorectal neoplasia and colorectal cancer detected at surveillance: a nationwide study in the modern era

Aim

Recommendations for surveillance after colonoscopy are based on risk factors for metachronous advanced colorectal neoplasia (AN) and colorectal cancer (CRC). The value of these risk factors remains unclear in populations enriched by individuals with a positive faecal immunochemical test and were investigated in a modern setting.

Methods and Results

This population-based cohort study included all individuals in the Netherlands of ≥55 years old with a first adenoma diagnosis in 2015. A total of 22,471 patients were included. Data were retrieved from the Dutch Nationwide Pathology Databank (Palga). Primary outcomes were metachronous AN and CRC. Patient and polyp characteristics were evaluated by multivariable Cox regression analyses. During follow-up, 2416 (10.8%) patients were diagnosed with AN, of which 557 (2.5% from the total population) were CRC. Adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (hazard ratio [HR] 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40–1.83), villous histology (HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.59–2.28), size ≥10 mm (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.02–1.23), proximal location (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.02–1.23), two or more adenomas (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.16–1.41), and serrated polyps ≥10 mm (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.42–1.97) were independent risk factors for metachronous AN. In contrast, only adenomas with high-grade dysplasia (HR 2.49, 95% CI 1.92–3.24) were an independent risk factor for metachronous CRC.

Conclusions

Risk factors for metachronous AN and CRC were identified for populations with access to a faecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based screening programme. If only risk factors for metachronous CRC are considered, a reduction in criteria for surveillance seems reasonable.