Detailed information on how the digestive system works, including a full-color, labeled illustration of the digestive system.
Colorectal cancer is cancer that starts in either your colon or your rectum. These make up the lower part of your digestive tract. In most cases, cancer does not start in both the colon and rectum. But both types of cancer have a lot in common. So they are often called colorectal cancer.
Some risk factors are out of your control, such as your age or family history. But some risk factors--such as diet and exercise--are factors you can control.
People with colorectal cancer often don't have symptoms right away. By the time symptoms start, the cancer may have grown or spread to other organs. Here's what you need to know.
FAP is a syndrome characterized by a large number of noncancer (benign) polyps in the colon and rectum. Without treatment, a person with FAP has a nearly 100% risk of colorectal cancer.
Several rare syndromes raise the risk for colorectal cancer. These disorders include Turcot syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers . syndrome, juvenile polyposis coli, and MUTYH-associated polyposis.
People who have any colorectal cancer risk factors should talk to their doctor or nurse about when they should start checking for colorectal cancer and what tests they should have done.
Carcinoid tumor is a rare type of tumor that grows slowly.
All people are at risk of colorectal cancer to some degree. But some people have a higher risk than others. What can you do to help protect yourself against colorectal cancer? There's no sure way to prevent it. But you can make changes in your life that will help you control as many of the risks as you can. Here are some choices you can make that may help.