Some personal choices and characteristics, such as family history, increase the risk of getting colon cancer. Keep in mind that not everyone with these risk factors will develop colorectal cancer, and if you have none of these risk factors, you can still get cancer.
Some risk factors are related to lifestyle choices that you have control over:
- Diet and exercise. Certain eating and exercise habits can increase risk of colorectal cancer, including:
- Eating a diet heavy in red meat, processed meats, and meats cooked at high temperatures
- Excessive alcohol intake
- Eating too few fruits and vegetables
- Exercising too little
- Obesity. People who are overweight have an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
Other risk factors are related to factors you cannot change:
- Age. Most cases of colorectal cancer develop in people older than age 50.
- Personal history of colon polyps or inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn’s disease. People who have already had any of these conditions are at greater risk for getting colon cancer in the future.
- Personal history of other types of cancer (colon or rectum or breast or ovarian). People who have already had one of these cancers are at greater risk of getting colorectal cancer in the future.
- Family history of colorectal cancer. If a parent, sibling, or child of yours has had colorectal cancer, you are more likely to develop the disease itself. If colorectal cancer has affected more than one person in your immediate family, you are at even greater risk.
- Genetic syndromes. Two genetic syndromes involve inherited genetic mutations that cause people to develop colon cancer at very young ages. These include:
- Familial adenomatous polyposis
- Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer
- Ethnic and racial background. African Americans and Jews of Eastern European descent (Ashkenazi Jews) have a higher risk. Several genetic mutations that increase risk have been identified in Ashkenazi Jews.
Learn more about colorectal cancer:
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