Cancer Facts

Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix.

Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from adenomatous polyps in the colon. These mushroom-like growths of the colon wall are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time.

Worldwide an estimated 1.23 million new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed in 2008. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men (663 000 cases, 10.0% of the total) and the second in women (570 000 cases, 9.4% of the total) worldwide. ¹

Certain factors increase a person's risk of developing the disease, these include:

• Age – incidence increases with increasing age
• Colonic polyps, particularly adenomatous polyps, are a risk factor for colon cancer. The removal of colon polyps at the time of colonoscopy reduces the subsequent risk of colon cancer
• A family history of colonic disease
• Obesity
• Diet

If detected early, 90% of patients live at least ten years ²

About Colorectal Cancer
application/pdf | 167kb approx | Updated 31/01/2011

1 Ferlay J, Shin HR, Bray F, Forman D, Mathers C and Parkin DM. GLOBOCAN 2008, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide: IARC CancerBase No. 10 [Internet].. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2010.
2 American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org