Is age a risk factor for colorectal cancer?

Age is the main risk factor for colorectal cancer, which is the third most commonly diagnosed type of cancer.

He Colon cancer It can appear without any symptoms. For this reason, it is recommended to start with the implementation colonoscopy at the age of 45, in people with an average risk, who have no family history of this disease and none of the conditions that predispose to the risk of contracting it, suggests gastroenterologist Brenda Jiménez Cantisano.

The risk of colon cancer is reduced in humans over 50 years, while the share among younger people is increasing. “People born around 1990 have twice the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer than those born in 1950,” says a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida.

The expert adds, over e-mailthat “it is important to emphasize that a colonoscopy should be done, even if there are no symptoms, but there are some signs that warn of going to see a doctor, such as rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, change bowel movements, finer stools, pain on evacuation and constipation.

It is also pointed out that some factors that will show whether a colonoscopy is necessary before the age of 45 are: some inflammatory diseases of the colon such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and hereditary diseases such as Lynch syndrome.

For diagnosis, suspicion of suffer from illnesswhen visiting a doctor, the first step is to determine whether the patient has a hereditary burden.

“It is important to talk about family history and to see if there is cancer, not just colon cancer, as there are other types that can lead to cancer, such as uterine cancer and Lynch syndrome,” he says.

After diagnosing that hereditary burden there is, you should go to a specialist who can determine what studies are needed, as well as preventive examinations before the cancer develops.

If she already suffers from this disease, she will be referred to specialists who can indicate multidisciplinary treatment in order to adequately treat the patient, says the Dominican gastroenterologist.

Treatment

It is important to know if it is only in the large intestine. In order to find out if the cancer has gone beyond the colon, it is necessary to do studies such as tomography, magnetic resonance, and depending on the location, it can be treated with a combination of treatments.

In some cases you can do a combined surgery with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, radiation is sometimes necessary, it all depends on the type, location, and if local nodes are affected, the treatment is very specialized and individualized,” shares Jiménez Cantisano.