HealthInfo Canterbury
Bowel polyps
Bowel polyps are growths on the lining of your large bowel or rectum.
Most people with polyps don't have any symptoms and only know they have them after an investigation such as a colonoscopy.
Your bowel can have different types of polyps. Most polyps aren't cancer (they're benign) and don't grow into a cancer. But some polyps, called adenomas are precancerous and can grow into a cancer if they’re left alone. If we remove a precancerous polyp, we can prevent bowel cancer.
It's possible to pick up bowel cancer before you have any symptoms. To find out more see National Bowel Screening Programme.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- NHS – Bowel polyps
This page explains what causes bowel polyps, how you find out if you have them, and how they are treated.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed November 2020.
See also:
Review key: HIBOP-136659
