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Colon polyps explained: what they are and what happens next | CION Cancer Clinics
A colon polyp is a small lump of extra tissue on the inner lining of the large bowel. It is not cancer, and most polyps never become cancer. The kind that can, called an adenoma, is removed during the same colonoscopy that finds it. This page explains the types of polyp, what the biopsy report means, and how your doctor decides when you should be checked again. At CION Cancer Clinics, our specialists help you judge which bowel symptoms need tests and plan screening that fits your risk.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Naresh GunduConsultant Medical Oncologist · MBBS, DNB (Internal Medicine), DM (Medical Oncology, AIIMS) · last reviewed October 2026, next review due October 2027
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The short answer
What is a colon polyp, and is it cancer?
A colon polyp is a small lump of extra tissue growing on the inner lining of the large bowel. It is not cancer. Most polyps never become cancer, and the ones that could are removed during the same colonoscopy that finds them, long before they get the chance.
What a polyp actually looks like
Some polyps sit flat against the bowel wall like a small coin. Others grow on a stalk, like a tiny mushroom. They can be the size of a grain of rice or, rarely, as large as a lime. The endoscopist sees them on the screen during colonoscopy, photographs them and, in most cases, removes them there and then with a wire loop or a pair of forceps.
Why doctors take them seriously anyway
Almost every colon cancer begins as one particular kind of polyp, called an adenoma, that slowly changed over many years. Taking the polyp out breaks that chain. This is why a colonoscopy that finds and removes polyps is a reason to be relieved, not alarmed. You can read how that slow change happens on our page on how colon cancer develops from a polyp.
Polyps almost never cause symptoms. Most are found in people who felt completely well and went for screening.The main kinds
Which kinds of polyp are there, and which ones matter?
The word on your biopsy report tells you which group your polyp belongs to. The groups behave very differently.
Adenoma
The kind that can, over many years, turn into cancer. Most adenomas never do, but every one is removed because nobody can tell in advance which few would. The report may call it tubular, villous or tubulovillous.
What the doctor watches
- How large it was
- How many were found
- Whether the cells looked disordered
Hyperplastic polyp
Very common, usually tiny, and usually found low down in the bowel. A small hyperplastic polyp is considered harmless and does not change when your next colonoscopy is due.
Many people have several of these and never need to think about them again.Serrated polyp
A group with a saw-tooth pattern under the microscope. Some serrated polyps, especially larger ones on the right side of the colon, can also become cancer by a different route and are followed up like adenomas. Our page on serrated and hyperplastic polyps explains the difference.
Inflammatory and other polyps
Lumps that form where the bowel has been inflamed, for instance in ulcerative colitis, and a few rarer types. These are not precancerous in themselves, though the colitis behind them needs its own follow-up.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistFrom finding to follow-up
What happens once a polyp is found?
It is removed during the colonoscopy
Nearly all polyps come out on the same day, through the scope. You feel nothing, because the bowel lining has no pain nerves. CION arranges the colonoscopy at a partner hospital or diagnostic partner.
It goes to the pathologist
Each polyp is sent to the laboratory in its own labelled pot. A pathologist looks at it under the microscope to name the type and check whether any cells have started to change.
You get a report
The report arrives a week or two later. It names each polyp, its size, its type and, for adenomas, the grade of dysplasia. Our page on reading a colon polyp result walks through the wording.
The next colonoscopy is set
Your doctor uses the number, size and type of polyps to decide when you should be scoped again. That gap can be short or very long. See polyp surveillance intervals for how that decision is made.
Rarely, more is needed
A very large or awkward polyp sometimes cannot be removed completely in one go, and a small number are found to contain cancer. Both situations have their own pathway, and both are usually caught early.
On your report
The words you will meet, in plain language
- Polypectomy
- Removal of a polyp through the colonoscope. It is a procedure, not an operation, and you go home the same day.
- Sessile and pedunculated
- Sessile means flat against the wall. Pedunculated means on a stalk. Flat polyps are harder to see and a little harder to remove cleanly.
- Dysplasia
- Cells that look disordered under the microscope. Low-grade is expected in any adenoma. High-grade means the change has gone further, but it is still not cancer.
- Advanced adenoma
- An adenoma that was large, had a villous pattern or showed high-grade dysplasia. It was still removed in full. The label mainly shortens the gap before your next colonoscopy.
- Margin
- The cut edge of the removed polyp. A clear margin means the pathologist saw normal tissue all the way round, so nothing was left behind.
- Polyposis
- Many polyps, usually dozens or more, often from a young age. This is different from having a few polyps and may point to an inherited condition.
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Did you know
The person who removes your polyp usually cannot tell on the day whether it is an adenoma or a hyperplastic polyp. That is the pathologist's job, and it is why nobody should feel alarmed, or fully reassured, until the written report is back.
Being straight with you
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you what your own polyp is. Only the pathology report can do that, and only the doctor who ordered the colonoscopy can put that report together with your age, your family history and what was seen in the rest of your bowel. If you are reading this with a report in your hand, that is the conversation to have.
It cannot set your next colonoscopy date
The gap before your next scope depends on details this page does not know: how many polyps, how big, which type, and whether the bowel was clean enough to see properly. Two people with "one polyp" can be given very different advice, and both can be right.
Who this does not apply to
If you have been told you have dozens of polyps, or polyps from your teens or twenties, or a close relative with a known gene fault, the usual rules do not fit you. Those families are looked after differently, often with the help of a genetic counsellor. Start with our page on when polyposis is suspected instead. Equally, if you have bleeding, a change in bowel habit or weight loss, a polyp page is the wrong place to be. See a doctor this week.
If your report has arrived and nobody has explained it, bring it to a CION consultation. A medical oncologist will tell you plainly what it means and what, if anything, comes next.Questions we are asked
Common questions about colon polyps
Does having a polyp mean I will get colon cancer?
No. Most polyps never become cancer, and the ones that could have usually been removed. What a polyp does change is how often you should be checked. A person who has had adenomas is offered colonoscopy more regularly than someone who has never had one.
Can I feel a polyp or know I have one?
Almost never. Polyps are silent, which is the whole reason screening exists. A very large polyp can occasionally cause bleeding or a change in bowel habit, but by then it has usually been growing for years. Most are found in people who felt perfectly well.
Why did the doctor remove it if it was probably harmless?
Because nobody can tell an adenoma from a harmless polyp by eye with certainty, and removing it is quick and safe. Taking out every polyp seen is the standard everywhere. The microscope then sorts out which ones mattered.
Does polyp removal hurt, and can I go home the same day?
The bowel lining has no pain nerves, so you feel nothing when a polyp is snipped. You are usually sedated for the colonoscopy itself and go home a few hours later. Someone should come with you, because you cannot drive after sedation.
What does "adenoma with low-grade dysplasia" mean?
It means your polyp was the kind that can change over time, and the cells showed the mild disorder that every adenoma has. It is not cancer and it is not high-grade. It has been removed. The main effect is on when your next colonoscopy is due.
Will my children or siblings need a colonoscopy?
Usually only if your polyps were advanced, or numerous, or found at a young age. One small adenoma in a person in their sixties does not normally change advice for the family. Ask the doctor directly, and see our page on family screening after polyps.
Can polyps grow back after removal?
The same polyp does not grow back once it has been fully removed. New polyps can form elsewhere in the bowel, which is why follow-up colonoscopy is offered. Having had one adenoma makes new ones somewhat more likely, which the surveillance plan already allows for.
What is the cost of polyp removal in Hyderabad?
Polyp removal is usually done within the colonoscopy itself, so the bill is mostly the colonoscopy plus the pathology fee for each polyp. The amount varies by hospital and by the number of polyps. CION can arrange the procedure at a partner hospital and give you a written estimate before you book.
Your Specialists
Meet CION's colon cancer specialists. Bring your colonoscopy, scan or biopsy report.
Our surgical and medical oncologists plan colon cancer care together: which operation, whether chemotherapy is needed, and the follow-up that comes after.
Medical Oncologist
Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
Medical Oncologist
Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
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Sources
- NIDDK (NIH) — Colon Polyps
- NHS — Bowel polyps
- MedlinePlus — Colon Polyp
- National Cancer Institute — Screening Tests to Detect Colorectal Cancer and Polyps
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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