Update from 2010 (standard operating procedure): protocol for the 2024 British Society of Gastroenterology Guidelines on colorectal surveillance in inflammatory bowel disease.

Introduction: The evolving landscape of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) necessitates refining colonoscopic surveillance guidelines. This study outlines methodology adopted by the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) Guideline Development Group (GDG) for updating IBD colorectal surveillance guidelines.

Methods And Analysis: The 'Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation' (GRADE) approach, as outlined in the GRADE handbook, was employed.

Anal and Perianal Preneoplastic Lesions.

Anal cancer, mainly squamous cell carcinoma, is rare but increasing in prevalence, as is its precursor lesion, anal squamous dysplasia. They are both strongly associated with human papillomavirus infection. The 2-tiered Lower Anogenital Squamous Terminology classification, low-grade SIL and high-grade SIL, is preferred to the 3-tiered anal intraepithelial neoplasia classification because of better interobserver agreement and clearer management implications.

Macroscopic pathology and all that: a personal view.

I hope that this treatise adds to the excellent reviews by Varma and colleagues, emphasising the importance of accurate macroscopic assessment and report provision. I have especially highlighted the importance of not divorcing the clinical data and the macroscopic analysis from the microscopic assessment as all are required to provide an accurate and cogent overall composition. The review has also identified areas where the evolution of pathological practice has gone a little awry and requires to be modified and/or justified with evidence base.

Colorectal dysplasia in chronic inflammatory bowel disease: a contemporary consensus classification and interobserver study.

The clinical management of patients with dysplasia in chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is currently guided by Riddell et al.'s grading system (negative, indefinite, low grade, high grade) from 1983 which was based primarily on nuclear cytoarchitectural characteristics. Although most dysplasia in IBD resembles sporadic adenomas morphologically, other distinctive potential cancer precursors in IBD have been described over time.

Incidental findings in the bowel cancer population screening program: other polyps and malignancies - A nationwide study.

The introduction of bowel cancer population screening programs has had a profound impact on gastrointestinal pathology. While the focus is mainly on quality assurance of diagnoses relevant for the outcome of these programs (colorectal cancer and its precursors), incidental findings are increasingly diagnosed. The incidence of such findings is largely unknown.

A clinical decision support system optimising adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancers by integrating deep learning and pathological staging markers: a development and validation study.

Background: The DoMore-v1-CRC marker was recently developed using deep learning and conventional haematoxylin and eosin-stained tissue sections, and was observed to outperform established molecular and morphological markers of patient outcome after primary colorectal cancer resection. The aim of the present study was to develop a clinical decision support system based on DoMore-v1-CRC and pathological staging markers to facilitate individualised selection of adjuvant treatment.

Methods: We estimated cancer-specific survival in subgroups formed by pathological tumour stage (pT<4 or pT4), pathological nodal stage (pN0, pN1, or pN2), number of lymph nodes sampled (≤12 or >12) if not pN2, and DoMore-v1-CRC classification (good, uncertain, or poor prognosis) in 997 patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer considered to have no residual tumour (R0) from two community-based cohorts in Norway and the UK, and used these data to define three risk groups.

Infrared Spectroscopic Analysis in the Differentiation of Epithelial Misplacement From Adenocarcinoma in Sigmoid Colonic Adenomatous Polyps.

Purpose: The differential diagnosis of epithelial misplacement from invasive cancer in the colon is a challenging endeavour, augmented by the introduction of bowel cancer population screening. The main aim of the work is to test, as a proof-of concept study, the ability of the infrared spectroscopic imaging approach to differentiate epithelial misplacement from adenocarcinoma in sigmoid colonic adenomatous polyps.

Methods: Ten samples from each of the four diagnostic groups, normal colonic mucosa, adenomatous polyps with low grade dysplasia, epithelial misplacement in adenomatous polyps and adenocarcinoma, were analysed using IR spectroscopic imaging and data processing methods.

The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Expert Board: an analysis of activity during 2017-2020.

Aims: The inception of the National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England in 2006 highlighted the fact that the differential diagnosis between the presence of epithelial misplacement and adenocarcinoma occurring in colorectal adenomas is problematic. The pathology Expert Board (EB) was created to facilitate the review of difficult cases by a panel of three experienced gastrointestinal pathologists. This article describes a review of the work of the EB over a 4-year period (2017-2020).

The indications for biopsy in routine upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

This review describes the indications and contraindications for endoscopic biopsy, in routine practice, of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. We accept that this review provides grounds for controversy, as our stance in certain situations is counter to some national guidelines. Nevertheless, we provide evidence to support our viewpoints, especially on efficiency and economic grounds.

Current dilemmas in the pathological staging of colorectal cancer: the results of a national survey.

Aims: Accurate and consistent pathological staging of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) in resection specimens is especially crucial to guide adjuvant therapy. The aim of this study was to assess whether certain staging scenarios yield discordant opinions in the setting of current international and UK national guidelines.

Methods And Results: Members of the UK Gastrointestinal Pathology External Quality Assurance Scheme were invited to complete an anonymous, on-line survey that presented 15 scenarios related to pT or pR staging of CRC, and three questions about the respondent.

Deep learning for prediction of colorectal cancer outcome: a discovery and validation study.

Background: Improved markers of prognosis are needed to stratify patients with early-stage colorectal cancer to refine selection of adjuvant therapy. The aim of the present study was to develop a biomarker of patient outcome after primary colorectal cancer resection by directly analysing scanned conventional haematoxylin and eosin stained sections using deep learning.

Methods: More than 12 000 000 image tiles from patients with a distinctly good or poor disease outcome from four cohorts were used to train a total of ten convolutional neural networks, purpose-built for classifying supersized heterogeneous images.

Complicated appendiceal diverticulosis versus low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms: a major diagnostic dilemma.

Aims: To research and identify how often complicated diverticular disease of the appendix [appendiceal diverticular disease (ADD)] shows histological mimicry of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms (LAMNs) and to provide guidance on the useful histopathological features that allow the appropriate diagnosis to be made.

Methods And Results: Seventy-four cases of complicated appendiceal diverticular disease were identified from two specialist centres. Of the second opinion/consultation cases, 71% of the ADD cases had been diagnosed by referring pathologists as LAMNs.

Chromatin organisation and cancer prognosis: a pan-cancer study.

Background: Chromatin organisation affects gene expression and regional mutation frequencies and contributes to carcinogenesis. Aberrant organisation of DNA has been correlated with cancer prognosis in analyses of the chromatin component of tumour cell nuclei using image texture analysis. As yet, the methodology has not been sufficiently validated to permit its clinical application.

High complete resection rate for pre-lift and cold biopsy of diminutive colorectal polyps.

Background And Study Aims:  The majority of polyps removed at colonoscopy are diminutive (≤ 5 mm) to small (< 10 mm) and there are few guidelines for the best way for these polyps to be removed. We aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of cold biopsy forceps polypectomy with pre-lift (CBPP) for polyps ≤ 7 mm. Our aims were to assess completeness of histological resection of this technique, to identify factors contributing to this and assess secondary considerations such as timing, retrieval and complication rates.

Problematic Colorectal Polyps: Is It Cancer and What Do I Need to Do About It?

Two issues commonly arise for pathologists reporting adenomatous polyps of the colorectum. Particularly problematic within large sigmoid colonic adenomas is the distinction between benign misplacement of epithelium into the submucosa and invasive malignancy. This distinction requires careful morphologic evaluation of key discriminatory features, assisted only rarely by the application of selected adjunctive immunohistochemistry.

Diagnostic dilemmas in chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Histopathological assessment of biopsy and resection specimens of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (CIBD), or possible CIBD, forms a significant component of the routine workload in most tissue pathology laboratories. In this review, we have chosen selected areas of particular diagnostic difficulty in CIBD pathology, providing key advice for pathology reporting. Those mimics of CIBD which have the greatest potential for misdiagnosis are discussed, particularly the wide range of infectious colitides which represent possible diagnostic pitfalls.

British Society of Gastroenterology position statement on serrated polyps in the colon and rectum.

Serrated polyps have been recognised in the last decade as important premalignant lesions accounting for between 15% and 30% of colorectal cancers. There is therefore a clinical need for guidance on how to manage these lesions; however, the evidence base is limited. A working group was commission by the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) Endoscopy section to review the available evidence and develop a position statement to provide clinical guidance until the evidence becomes available to support a formal guideline.

Challenging diagnostic issues in adenomatous polyps with epithelial misplacement in bowel cancer screening: 5 years' experience of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Expert Board.

The diagnostic difficulties of differentiating epithelial misplacement from invasive cancer in colorectal adenomatous polyps have been recognised for many years. Nevertheless, the introduction of population screening in the UK has resulted in extraordinary diagnostic problems. Larger sigmoid colonic adenomatous polyps, which are those most likely to show epithelial misplacement, are specifically selected into such screening programmes, because these polyps are likely to bleed and screening is based on the detection of occult blood.