Relationship Between Sporadic Hyperplastic Polyps and Colorectal Neoplasia in Hispanic Veterans‪.‬

Colorectal carcinoma affects more than 150,000 patients per year in the United States, causing more that 50,000 cancer related deaths per year, a rate second only to lung cancer (1-2). Similarly, CRC accounts for 13% of all cancer deaths in PR affecting approximately 1,500 individuals every year (Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry Data, 2004). Screening and surveillance colonoscopy regimens recommended by medical professional societies can decrease the morbidity and mortality by removal of premalignant polyps, and early detection of colon cancer at a curable stage (2). A colon polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue along the lining of the colon. It may be characterized by its gross appearance according to the presence or absence of a stalk and its size, but regardless of the macroscopic features, specific definition is based on the histologic characteristics (1).