How to Use precancerous in a Sentence

precancerous

adjective
  • Over the years, this damage builds up and can cause precancerous changes to your skin.
    — Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 4 Dec. 2023
  • The tests are not very good at detecting precancerous polyps that show up on a colonoscopy.
    — Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC news, 15 Feb. 2026
  • Any small, precancerous polyps found during the colonoscopy can be removed right then and there.
    — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2017
  • Stage 0 is when abnormal or precancerous cells are found in your cervix.
    — Heidi Cope, Health, 20 Oct. 2024
  • These tests detect blood in the stool, something that can be a sign of cancer or precancerous polyps.
    — Cassandra Willyard, Scientific American, 12 Nov. 2021
  • Polyps are small, precancerous growths on the inside of the colon that grow over time into colon cancer.
    — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6 Sep. 2017
  • When precancerous tissue forms, new blood vessels grow to supply it with blood.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 8 Jan. 2024
  • In the new study, the researchers focused on precancerous polyps instead of cancer.
    — Fox News, 16 May 2017
  • Doctors found a polyp in her large intestine that was likely precancerous.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 21 July 2022
  • In the study, mice that ate a high-fat diet were more likely to develop precancerous lesions.
    — Melissa Rudy, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2025
  • Dardick said a precancerous growth was removed from the patient’s skin nine years ago and is no longer being treated.
    — Christopher Rowland, Washington Post, 5 June 2022
  • The biopsy samples were sent to pathology for testing and found to be precancerous.
    — Harris Meyer, CBS News, 19 Dec. 2024
  • Changes in these cells do not clearly suggest precancerous cells, however.
    — Elizabeth Boskey, Verywell Health, 27 June 2023
  • Meat that's been smoked, grilled, charcoaled, or preserved with salt may lead to gene mutations and precancerous changes in the stomach.
    — Carrie Madormo, Health, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Vaccines that harness the immune system to attack these precancerous changes are on the horizon as well.
    — Philip E. Castle, STAT, 11 Aug. 2021
  • This may be done to smooth out the skin after treatment or, in some cases, even as part of treatment to remove precancerous patches of skin.
    — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, 28 Aug. 2018
  • Denoya said that test is good at finding cancer but less effective at flagging precancerous growths.
    — Aria Bendix, NBC News, 6 Dec. 2022
  • Spotting can also signal an infection or precancerous changes in the lining of your uterus.
    — Sari Harrar, Good Housekeeping, 23 Jan. 2013
  • One way to be screened is through a procedure called colonoscopy, where a physician examines your colon with a camera to look for precancerous polyps.
    — Peter Ubel, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
  • There are multiple ways to screen for precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer.
    — Nick Blackmer, Verywell Health, 24 Mar. 2023
  • That includes detecting some precancerous polyps that grow on the wall of the colon and may develop into cancer.
    — Tom Daykin, jsonline.com, 20 Nov. 2025
  • Many people choose to get a colonoscopy, which is a screening test that can also prevent cancer by removing precancerous polyps.
    — Discover Magazine, 31 May 2024
  • Screening allows for the detection of precancerous polyps and early-stage cancers that might not yet show symptoms.
    — Walter Pavlo, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
  • In the study, the test caught 83% of the cancers but very few of the precancerous growths found by colonoscopy, the gold standard for colon cancer screening.
    — Carla K. Johnson, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024
  • Several precancerous changes can happen in the stomach lining and raise the risk of stomach cancer.
    — Carrie Madormo, Health, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Also, there’s a risk that a cancerous or precancerous mole will go unrecognized.
    — Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2021
  • When found in either the uterus or cervix, precancerous and cancerous cells can cause irregular bleeding.
    — Women's Health, 23 Aug. 2023
  • In addition, there was a decrease in the prevalence of precancerous cells in the cervix, which can develop into cancer.
    — NBC News, 27 June 2019
  • The colonoscopy might be approved for coverage initially, and then coverage is reversed when precancerous polyps are found.
    — Taayoo Murray, Health.com, 9 Dec. 2021
  • Jangouk doesn't recommend the blood or stool test because of the rates of false positives and false negatives and the chances of missing a precancerous polyp.
    — Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 14 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'precancerous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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