These risk factors increase your chance of developing bowel cancer:
- Age: Most people who get bowel cancer are over 50.
- Previous cancer: If you have bowel cancer before.
- Family history of bowel cancer: If a member of your immediate family (mother, father, brother, sister or child) or a number of relatives (uncle, aunt) on the same side of the family has had bowel cancer, or if an immediate family member was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age, under 45.
- Inherited bowel conditions: If you or someone in your family have or had an inherited bowel condition such as FAP and Lynch syndrome (also called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC). FAP stands for familial adenomatous polyposis.).
- Other bowel conditions: If you have a history of a bowel condition such as benign polyps, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.
- Obesity: If you are obese (overweight).
- Diet: A diet high in fat and red meat and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables can increase your risk of bowel cancer. Drinking alcohol to excess and smoking may increase the risk for some people.
About 5 people out of every 100 diagnosed with bowel cancer have Lynch syndrome.
Colorectal (bowel) cancer is the cancer most associated with Lynch syndrome.where thousands of polyps develop in the bowel.
Most people who have Lynch syndrome are well and don’t know they have LS. However, someone with LS is more at risk of developing certain types of cancer than other people of a similar age.
Other cancers linked to Lynch syndrome include: Endometrial(womb), Ovarian and Kidney/Bladder.
Lynch Syndrome Ireland 