| [ Summary ] |
In Japan, the rising number of patients with longstanding inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has resulted in an increasing number of cases of IBD-associated neoplastic lesions. Therefore, surveillance colonoscopy is recommended for early detection of dysplasia or colitic cancer in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). However, UC-associated neoplastic lesions in inflamed mucosa are sometimes difficult to identify endoscopically. Physicians need to become familiar with the characteristics and typical endoscopic aspects of those lesions when performing target biopsies. The relative risk for intestinal cancer arising from the small bowel, colon, anus, or fistula is also thought to be high in patients with Crohnʼs disease (CD). However, cancer surveillance programs for patients with longstanding CD have not yet been established. |