Reviewed by medical experts • For informational purposes only
Polyps, age, family history, diet and lifestyle - what actually causes colon cancer and which risk factors you can change.
Colon cancer usually begins as a small, harmless polyp on the inner lining of the large intestine. Over years, some polyps accumulate genetic damage and turn cancerous. That long slow runway is precisely why screening works - and why this cancer is considered one of the most preventable.
Most colon cancers start as adenomatous polyps - small growths that cause no symptoms. Only a minority turn malignant, and the change typically takes 10-15 years. A colonoscopy that finds and removes polyps interrupts the process before cancer ever forms: screening here is literally prevention.
Spicy food, constipation alone, "toxins" needing cleanses, stress alone - none are established causes. Colon cleanses and detox products have no preventive value; the polyp removal in a colonoscopy does.
Colon cancer grows slowly from polyps over 10-15 years, driven by age, genes and bowel disease on one side and diet, weight, smoking and inactivity on the other - the slow runway makes screening the great prevention.
Written By
Dr. Daksh
BDS
Reviewed By
Dr. Varun Gupta
MD Pharmacology, MBBS
Last updated on
27 Sep 2022 • 06:23 PM (IST)
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