| [ Summary ] |
FAP (Familial adenomatous polyposis) is not only associated with adenomatosis of the large bowel, but is also accompanied by various types of generalized growth disorders with manifestations of both a benign and malignant nature throughout the body. In recent years, active use of gastroduodenofiberscopy has revealed a high frequency of duodenal polyps in FAP patients ; with a frequency of 80% or more. Furthermore, it has become apparent that FAP patients have a lifetime risk of duodenal or periampullary carcinoma which has been estimated to be 250-330 times greater than that of the general population, and has been reported to account for twice as many deaths as colorectal carcinoma. However, the optimal treatment for duodenal adenomatous polyps in FAP patients has not yet been established. In this paper, we describe clinical features of duodenal polyps, and report somatic mutations in the APC gene which have been detected in duodenal tumors, and present our treatment protocol for FAP patients with duodenal polyps. |