What is the number one cause of colon cancer?

What is the number one cause of colon cancer?

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 55 percent of colorectal cancer diagnoses in the United States are attributed to controllable lifestyle factors. These include: Diet—The risk is higher for those who eat a high-fat diet, a lot of processed meat or red meat.

What diet is a major risk factor for colon cancer?

A diet that’s high in red meats (such as beef, pork, lamb, or liver) and processed meats (like hot dogs and some luncheon meats) raises your colorectal cancer risk. Cooking meats at very high temperatures (frying, broiling, or grilling) creates chemicals that might raise your cancer risk.

Who is most likely to get colon cancer?

Age. The risk of colorectal cancer increases as people get older. Colorectal cancer can occur in young adults and teenagers, but the majority of colorectal cancers occur in people older than 50. For colon cancer, the average age at the time of diagnosis for men is 68 and for women is 72.

How long can you live with colon cancer stage 1?

The colon cancer survival rate is encouragingly high; more than 92 percent of patients diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis.

What are the most common causes of colon cancer?

Inherited syndromes can also be a factor that increases your chances of developing colon cancer. The two most common are familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). Your ethnic background can also be a factor.

Which is an inherited gene that causes colon cancer?

Inherited gene mutations that increase the risk of colon cancer. Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). HNPCC, also called Lynch syndrome, increases the risk of colon cancer and other cancers. People with HNPCC tend to develop colon cancer before age 50. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).

What causes polyps to form in the colon?

When mutated, it becomes part of a biochemical chain reaction that leads to the formation of hundreds of polyps in the colon that can become cancerous. Lynch syndrome (hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer, or HNPCC) This is an inherited cancer syndrome that raises the risk for many cancers, including colorectal cancer.

How is a person at risk for colorectal cancer?

Researchers have found several factors that can increase a person’s risk of colorectal cancer, but it’s not yet clear exactly how all of these factors might cause this cancer. Cancer is caused by changes in the DNA inside our cells. DNA is the chemical in our cells that makes up our genes, which control how our cells function.

What are the chances of me getting colon cancer?

An individual’s cancer risk has a lot to do with other factors, such as age. For instance, a woman’s lifetime risk of developing colon and rectal cancer is just over 4 percent , or about 42 out of every 1,000 women. But her risk of developing colon and rectal cancer before the age of 50 is 0.3 percent , or about 3 out of every 1,000 women.

What are the risk factors for colon cancer?

A history of polyps is one of the main risk factors for colorectal cancer, a common but preventable disease. Other risk factors for colon cancer include being 50 or older, having a family or personal history of colon polyps or colon cancer, and being overweight or a smoker.

What can I do to reduce my risk of colorectal cancer?

People who eat whole grains every day have a lower risk of colorectal cancer than people who don’t. In fact, eating about three servings of whole grains (90 grams) per day reduces your risk of colorectal cancer by 17 percent, according to the report. And the more whole grains you eat, the more you cut your risk.

What are the early signs of bowel cancer?

Colorectal cancer or bowel cancer in its early stages may have no symptoms. Symptoms depend on stage of the tumor, the location and spread of the tumor. Initial symptoms: Bleeding in stools or blood streaks on stools. This may be bright red or plum-coloured.