Colorectal Cancer, Polyps, and Diverticular Disease
USPSTF age-45 screening, ADR benchmarks, USMSTF post-polypectomy surveillance intervals, FAP/AFAP/MAP polyposis, Lynch syndrome with universal MMR/IHC, KEYNOTE-177 for MSI-H, the OPRA rectal-cancer pathway, and the Hinchey-graded diverticulitis algorithm with AVOD selective antibiotics.
- Audio chapterAttending-narrated, listen on the commute.
- ABIM-format MCQs5-option vignettes with full wrong-answer teaching.
- Study guideTables, decision trees, primary sources.
- AI tutorChapter-grounded, answers the question you're stuck on.
What this chapter covers
- Section 15.1: CRC screening modalities and USPSTF age update
Colorectal cancer screening exists because the disease has a long, recognizable precursor lesion and a survivable early stage, and the modality menu is engineered to give every patient a route in.
- Section 15.2: Colorectal cancer epidemiology, molecular subtypes, and staging
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of cancer death, with a lifetime risk of about 5 percent in average-risk adults.
- Section 15.3: CRC treatment
Treatment of colorectal cancer is staged surgery in stage I, surgery with selective adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II, surgery with mandatory adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III, and systemic therapy with selective metastasectomy in stage IV.
- Section 15.4: Sporadic polyps and the serrated pathway
Sporadic polyps are the precursor lesions of the conventional and serrated pathways to CRC, and the histologic class drives both the cancer risk and the surveillance interval.
- Section 15.5: Diverticular disease
Diverticular disease is the spectrum from asymptomatic diverticulosis through uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis to segmental colitis associated with diverticulosis (SCAD), and the boards test it as a management algorithm that has shifted meaningfully in the last decade.
Podcast episodes
- 01
CRC Screening Biology Treatment Polyps
This episode covers the neoplastic colorectal pathway from screening through treatment to surveillance: average-risk screening starting at forty-five, the molecular subtypes that drive treatment, the stage-based management, and the polyp surveillance intervals.
- 02
Diverticular Disease
This episode covers diverticular disease as its own entity: the biology, uncomplicated diverticulitis where antibiotics are now selective rather than reflex, complicated disease graded by Hinchey, the segmental colitis that mimics IBD, and the elective surgery question.