The short answer
An adenoma is a tumor that is not cancer and starts in gland-like cells. NCI describes villous and tubulovillous adenomas as types of polyps that grow in the colon and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. NCI says these adenomas may become cancer. This page explains the terms and what to ask your care team.
NCI defines an adenoma as a tumor that is not cancer and starts in gland-like cells.
NCI describes villous and tubulovillous adenomas as polyps that grow in the colon and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
NCI says these adenomas may become malignant (cancer).
Ask your care team whether the polyp was fully removed and when to have your next test.
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This page is for anyone whose colonoscopy pathology report says "villous adenoma" or "tubulovillous adenoma." It explains the terms and what to ask your care team.
What an adenoma is
NCI defines an adenoma as "a tumor that is not cancer." It starts in gland-like cells. These cells are in the thin layer that covers organs and glands.
Villous and tubulovillous adenomas
NCI describes both as "a type of polyp that grows in the colon and other places in the gastrointestinal tract and sometimes in other parts of the body."
NCI says: "These adenomas may become malignant (cancer)." Your care team may plan follow-up for this reason.
What else your report may say
Your report may also list the size of each polyp. It may say how many were found. It may say if abnormal cells, called dysplasia, were seen. Ask your care team to explain each part.
Ask these before you leave
- What type of adenoma was found?
- Was it completely removed?
- When should my next colonoscopy be?
Related pages
See What Does 'Serrated Polyp' Mean?, Polyp vs. Tumor, and What Does 'Dysplasia' Mean?.
Sources
Common questions
Is an adenoma cancer?
No. NCI defines an adenoma as a tumor that is not cancer. NCI says villous and tubulovillous adenomas may become cancer.
What is a tubulovillous adenoma?
NCI describes it as a type of polyp that grows in the colon and other places in the gastrointestinal tract. NCI says these adenomas may become cancer.
Does my report say whether cancer was found?
Your report will say if cancer was found. Ask your care team to go through it with you.
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Plain-language explanation of the published sources cited on this page. AI-assisted, source-checked, not clinician-reviewed.
Sources last checked: 2026-10-02 what this meansLast updated: 2026-09-27Next planned review: 2027-09-27
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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