RISK FACTOR FILE
THERE is strong evidence that lifestyle plays a role in bowel cancer, but there are other risk factors that we can do little about. That doesn’t mean you should put your head in the sand, though. Knowing your family history and whether or not you’ve had other illnesses that raise the risk of the disease are key to vigilance.
Be aware of any family history of bowel cancer. Your risk is doubled if one of your parents, a sibling or one of your children has had the disease – and is four times higher if at least two firstdegree relatives has received a diagnosis. A close family member being diagnosed under the age of 45 also ups your chance of the disease, and if you tick these boxes you should be referred to bowel cancer family clinic for advice and monitoring.
If there is a history of endometrial (womb), ovarian, stomach, pancreas and bladder cancers, then you should discuss this with your GP who may again refer you to a specialist as above.
As with many cancers, the older you are, the higher your risk of bowel cancer – especially if you are over 50. While around one in 20 people develop bowel cancer, 90 per cent of these cases are in those aged over 60. Cancer is caused when damaged cells multiply out of control. As we get older our cells are more likely to become damaged which is why the chance of getting cancer in general increases as you get older.
If you are one of the 300,000 in the UK with inflammatory bowel disease, which covers the chronic conditions Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, then you are at higher risk of developing bowel cancer after having it for a number of years.
Around four per cent of bowel cancers are caused by a inherited disorder called Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), which significantly increases the risk of developing colorectal and other cancers.
Suffering from other forms of cancer previously, such as prostate, breast, bladder, womb, oesophageal, cervical, kidney, head and neck or lymphoma, increases your risk.
People with type 2 diabetes are also at an increased risk, although we don’t know why.
Those who are Afro-Caribbean have a high incidence rate while Ashkenazi Jews have one of the highest bowel cancer risks of any ethnic group in the world.