Age

Older age is the number one risk factorfor colon cancer.

That said, young adults can get colon cancer too.

Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity and race are also factors associated with cancer risk.

colon cancer causes and risk factors

Verywell

African Americans are more likely to develop and die from colon cancer than Caucasians.

Another high-risk group for getting colon cancer is people of Jewish Eastern European descent.

Being Overweight or Obese

The link between colon cancer andobesityis strong.

colon cancer: newly diagnosed cases

Verywell

These options include stool-based testing every three years or colonoscopy every five years.

Genetics

Research has shown that one in four cases of colon cancer has some sort ofgenetic link.

PJS is not common: It affects only between one in 25,000 to one in 300,000 people at birth.

PJS can be passed on to a child (50/50 chance) or developed sporadically for unknown reasons.

In addition, several other risk factors are also within your control.

In fact, even moderate alcohol consumption may put a person at risk.

Smoking

Smoking is strongly associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Polyps are common in the gastrointestinal tract; most are harmless.

The polyps most likely to become malignant are adenomas, although most of these do not become cancerous.

Those that do typically are relatively largemore than 1 inch in diameter.

It’s not clear, but there are three main theories:

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