ABSTRACT
Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) compared with the general population. Currently the molecular mechanism of CRC occurrence in the context of IBD is not clear. The inflammation-atypical hyperplasia-cancer process has been widely accepted. Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4) is a key receptor for pathogen recognition and immune activation, and plays a crucial role in inflammatory and carcinogenic transformation of IBD. Therefore, this paper reviews the epidemiology of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) and the main mechanisms of TLR4 in the development of IBD to CAC, which will help to further understand the carcinogenesis of IBD, detect and better describe CAC at an earlier stage, and provide more effective prevention and treatment for CAC.