What Causes Colon Cancer
Risk Factors for Bowel and Rectal Cancers

What causes colon cancer? Risk factors for colon cancer are varied. However, experts believe that lack of physical activity and an unhealthy diet are the most important causes of colon cancer. These lifestyle habits encourage polyps to grow in the walls of your bowel or rectum, which can become malignant.

Here's a list of causes with an explanation of how each factor leads to tumor in your colon or rectum...

• Aging
  

  Age is one of the risk factors for colon cancer. If you are above 50 years old, a malignant tumor is more likely to grow in your colon.

  Ninety percent of cases are diagnosed among those who are more than 50 years old.

  
  

• Family history
  

  Having first degree relatives with the disease gives you a lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

  
  

• Genetics
  

  Five percent of bowel tumor cases are due to hereditary cancers syndrome. Meaning, it is very possible for a person to inherit genetic mutations from one or both of your parents. These DNA mutations may lead to formation of polyps.

  If you have the hereditary tumor genes, you are very likely to develop large number of polyps in your bowel at a young age. You also face a very high risk of developing the disease early in life and are at risk for the other types of tumor.
  
  

• High-fat diet
  

  A diet that is high on saturated fats (especially from red meat) is positively linked to the growth of polyps in the bowel. 80% of the disease are considered sporadic cancers -- one of the basic kinds of cancer. They are mainly due to a somatic mutation.

  Read more: Unhealthy Foods that Cause Cancer

  
  

• Polyps
  

  What causes colon cancer to develop is the presence of precancerous polyps in the bowel. That is why removing all polyps including those that are benign is important. They should be removed surgically to prevent them from becoming cancerous.

  
  

• Personal History of Tumor
  

  If you survived colorectal cancer in the past, you still face a higher risk of having it the second time around.

  A history of breast, ovarian or endometrial cancers is one of the causes of colon cancer.

  
  

• Ulcerative Colitis
  

  How can chronic ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease be a cause of cancer? Chron's diseases is the inflammation of the inner lining of your bowel. This condition can result to complication and eventually, to cancer.

  Experiencing persistent or frequent ulcerative colitis is one of the risk factors for colon cancer.

  
  

• Obesity
  

  Tumors in the bowel develop more frequently among obese men and women.

  Here's an article explaining why obesity is a risk factor: Breast, Colon and Endometrial Cancers: Effects of Obesity

  
  

• Cigarette smoking
  

  If you smoke, you have a higher risk of developing polyps in your bowel and may lead to what causes colon cancer.

  Read more: Dangers and Effects of Smoking and Second Hand Smoke

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