The risk of men in Britain contracting bowel cancer has doubled since the seventies, according to new figures by Cancer Research UK. This equates to an increased risk from one in 29 to one in 15 over a lifetime.
Back in 1975 there were just 11,800 cases of bowel cancer inn British men – by 2008 the number of cases had almost doubled to 21,800.
However, despite the increased risk, half of all patients diagnosed with bowel cancer survive for at least 10 years – double the number that would have survived in the seventies.
The figures from Cancer Research UK show that men are generally more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than women – 42.2 per cent of them get the disease compared with 38.8 per cent of women.
Bowel cancer in women has only increased by a quarter since the seventies. In 1975 there were 13,500 cases of bowel cancer in women, compared with 17,400 in 2008.
Professor Peter Sasieni, author of the study, said that the increased cases of bowel cancer are a result of people living longer:
"As people are living longer the numbers getting cancer have increased and the lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer has gone up. For some cancers including bowel – the risk of cancer in the next 10 years will be much higher for people in their 50s and 60s.”
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said that people can reduce their risk of getting bowel cancer by cutting down on smoking and alcohol, being physically active and eating a healthy diet that is high in fibre and low in red and processed meat.
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