Family History of Colorectal Cancer Prompts the Jonas Brothers to Get Screened Early

Even though most colorectal cancers occur in people with no family history of the disease, your risk increases if you have a family member who had been affected by the disease.

Exactly how much your risk goes up depends on the number of relatives with colorectal cancer, whether they are first or second-degree, and their age at diagnosis. As many as one in five people who develop colorectal cancer have other family members who have had the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) recommends colonoscopy screening begin at age 50 for normal-risk individuals and age 45 for African Americans. However, ACG also recommends earlier or more frequent screening if you have specific risk factors, such as inflammatory bowel disease or a family history of colorectal cancer.

Learn More in this ACG Podcast

You can learn more about family history, lynch Syndrome and other colorectal cancer risk factors in this ACG  podcast with Dr. Carol A. Burke of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and her patient Anita, who has lynch syndrome. Listen Now

ACG Colorectal Cancer Patient Health Center
ACG Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines
Colorectal Cancer Screening: Recommendations for Physicians and Patients from the U.S. Multi-SocietyTask Force on Colorectal Cancer

Source: Self