Diet and lifestyle are believed to play a large role in whether colorectal polyps form. Studies show there to be a protective link between consumption of cooked green vegetables, brown rice, legumes, and dried fruit and decreased incidence of colorectal polyps.

These are polyps which are associated with inflammatory conditions such as Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns disease.

Little research is conducted on these cancers due to their relative rarity when compared to the more common colorectal cancers. APC-min mice which carry a gene deficiency corresponding to that of humans with FAP also go on to develop small intestinal tumors, though humans do not.

Risk factors for small intestine cancer include:

- Crohn's disease

- Celiac disease

- Radiation exposure

- Hereditary gastrointestinal cancer syndromes: familial adenomatous polyposis, hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome

- Males are 25% more likely to develop the disease

Benign tumours and conditions that may be mistaken for cancer of the small bowel:

- Hamartoma

- Tuberculosis

Complete removal of a SSA is considered curative.

Several SSAs confer a higher risk of subsequently finding colorectal cancer and warrant more frequent surveillance. The surveillance guidelines are the same as for other colonic adenomas. The surveillance interval is dependent on (1) the number of adenomas, (2) the size of the adenomas, and (3) the presence of high-grade microscopic features.

Villous adenoma is a type of polyp that grows in the colon and other places in the gastrointestinal tract and sometimes in other parts of the body. These adenomas may become malignant (cancerous). Villous adenomas have been demonstrated to contain malignant portions in about one third of affected persons, and invasive malignancy in another one third of removed specimens. Colonic resection may be required for large lesions. These can also lead to secretory diarrhea with large volume liquid stools with few formed elements. They are commonly described as secreting large amounts of mucus, resulting in hypokalaemia in patients. On endoscopy a "cauliflower' like mass is described due to villi stretching. Being an adenoma, the mass is covered in columnar epithelial cells.

Muir–Torre was observed to occur in 14 of 50 families (28%) and in 14 of 152 individuals (9.2%) with Lynch syndrome, also known as HNPCC.

The 2 major MMR proteins involved are hMLH1 and hMSH2. Approximately 70% of tumors associated with the MTS have microsatellite instability. While germline disruption of hMLH1 and hMSH2 is evenly distributed in HNPCC, disruption of hMSH2 is seen in greater than 90% of MTS patients.

Gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers are the most common internal malignancies. Colorectal cancer is the most common visceral neoplasm in Muir–Torre syndrome patients.

In gastroenterology, a sessile serrated adenoma (abbreviated SSA), also known as sessile serrated polyp (abbreviated SSP), is a premalignant flat (or sessile) lesion of the colon, predominantly seen in the cecum and ascending colon.

SSAs are thought to lead to colorectal cancer through the (alternate) "serrated pathway". This differs from most colorectal cancer, which arises from mutations starting with inactivation of the APC gene.

Multiple SSAs may be part of the "serrated polyposis syndrome".

The colorectal adenoma is a benign glandular tumor of the colon and the rectum. It is a precursor lesion of the colorectal adenocarcinoma (colon cancer).

Some morphological variants have been described:

- tubular adenoma

- tubulovillous adenoma

- villous adenoma

- sessile serrated adenoma (SSA)

The majority of hepatic adenomas arise in women aged 20–40, most of whom use oral contraceptives. Other medications which also alter circulating hormone levels, such as anabolic or androgenic steroids, barbituates, clomifene, have also been implicated as risk factors.

Incidence of adenomas may be increased in metabolic diseases, including tyrosinemia and type 1 diabetes mellitus, and glycogen storage diseases (types 1 and 3), as well as in beta-thalassemia and hemochromatosis.

Hepatocellular adenoma (also known as hepatic adenoma or hepadenoma) is a rare, benign liver tumor. It most commonly occurs in people with elevated systemic levels of estrogen, classically in women taking estrogen-containing oral contraceptive medication.

While there is a wide age range at clinical presentation (12–85 years), most patients come to clinical attention at 55 years (mean). There is no gender difference.

Safety regulations from US accreditor the Joint Commission may have unintentionally decreased digital rectal examination and FOBT in hospital settings such as Emergency Departments.

An adenoma (from Greek αδένας, "", "gland" + -ώμα, "", "tumor") (; plural adenomas or adenomata ) is a benign tumor of epithelial tissue with glandular origin, glandular characteristics, or both. Adenomas can grow from many glandular organs, including the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, and others. Some adenomas grow from epithelial tissue in nonglandular areas but express glandular tissue structure (as can happen in familial polyposis coli). Although adenomas are benign, over time they may transform to become malignant, at which point they are called adenocarcinomas. Most adenomas do not transform. But even while benign, they have the potential to cause serious health complications by compressing other structures (mass effect) and by producing large amounts of hormones in an unregulated, non-feedback-dependent manner (causing paraneoplastic syndromes). Some adenomas are too small to be seen macroscopically but can still cause clinical symptoms.

The overall incidence is 0.5 to 1 cases per 100,000 people per year. It is slightly more common in women than men (male:female ratio = 9:11). The median age at presentation is typically about 50 years with a range of 20–25 years.

Nipple adenomas most commonly occur in 30- to 40-year-old women, but can also occur in men. They can also occur at any age, including in the elderly, in adolescence, and in infants.

Most individuals come to clinical attention during the 5th decade, although the age range is broad (20 to 80 years). There is an equal gender distribution.

Conditions such as ulcerative colitis or certain types of relapsing infectious diarrhea can vary in severity over time, and FOBT may assist in assessing the severity of the disease. Medications associated with gastrointestinal bleeding such as Bortezomib are sometimes monitored by FOBT.

Pituitary adenomas are seen in 10% of neurological patients. A lot of them remain undiagnosed. Treatment is usually surgical, to which patients generally respond well. The most common subtype, prolactinoma, is seen more often in women, and is frequently diagnosed during pregnancy as the hormone progesterone increases its growth. Medical therapy with cabergoline or bromocriptine generally suppresses prolactinomas; progesterone antagonist therapy has not proven to be successful.

An oncocytoma is a tumor made up of oncocytes, epithelial cells characterized by an excessive amount of mitochondria, resulting in an abundant acidophilic, granular cytoplasm. The cells and the tumor that they compose are often benign but sometimes may be premalignant or malignant.

This is a very rare neoplasm accounting for approximately 0.0003% of all tumors and about 2.5% of all external ear neoplasms. There is a wide age range at initial presentation, although the mean age is about 50 years of age. Females are affected slightly more often (1.5:1).

Treatment may include the following:

- Surgery with or without radiation

- Radiotherapy

Fast neutron therapy has been used successfully to treat salivary gland tumors, and has shown to be significantly more effective than photons in studies treating unresectable salivary gland tumors.

- Chemotherapy

GISTs occur in 10-20 per one million people. The true incidence might be higher, as novel laboratory methods are much more sensitive in diagnosing GISTs. The estimated incidence of GIST in the United States is approximately 5000 cases annually. This makes GIST the most common form of sarcoma, which constitutes more than 70 types of cancer.

The majority of GISTs present at ages 50–70 years. Across most of the age spectrum, the incidence of GIST is similar in men and women.

Adult GISTs are rare before age 40. Pediatric GISTs are considered to be biologically distinct. Unlike GISTs at other ages, pediatric GISTs are more common in girls and young women. They appear to lack oncogenic activating tyrosine kinase mutations in both KIT and PDGFRA. Pediatric GISTs are treated differently than adult GIST. Although the generally accepted definition of pediatric GIST is a tumor that is diagnosed at the age of 18 years or younger, "pediatric-type" GISTs can be seen in adults, which affects risk assessment, the role of lymph node resection, and choice of therapy.

Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a clinical condition caused by cancerous cells (mucinous adenocarcinoma) that produce abundant mucin or gelatinous ascites. The tumors cause fibrosis of tissues and impede digestion or organ function, and if left untreated, the tumors and mucin they produce will fill the abdominal cavity. This will result in compression of organs and will destroy the function of colon, small intestine, stomach, or other organs. Prognosis with treatment in many cases is optimistic, but the disease is lethal if untreated, with death by cachexia, bowel obstruction, or other types of complications.

This disease is most commonly caused by an appendiceal primary cancer (cancer of the appendix); mucinous tumors of the ovary have also been implicated, although in most cases ovarian involvement is favored to be a metastasis from an appendiceal or other gastrointestinal source. Disease is typically classified as low- or high-grade (with signet ring cells). When disease presents with low-grade histologic features the cancer rarely spreads through the lymphatic system or through the bloodstream.

A ceruminous adenoma (also known as adenoma of the ceruminous gland and ceruminoma) is a benign glandular neoplasm which arises from the ceruminous glands located within the external auditory canal. These glands are found within the outer one third to one half of the external auditory canal, more common along the posterior surface; therefore, the tumor develops within a very specific location.