Patient Version - Colorectal Cancer Fact Sheet - Risk Factors Screening and Early Detection

Colorectal Cancer Fact Sheet Patient Version Colorectal Cancer Fact Sheet Colorectal cancer starts in either the colon or rectum. [...] These include: Screening and Early Detection a person’s age; having a personal or family history of colorectal polyps; having inflammatory bowel disease, Everyone should talk to a health care provider about certain hereditary syndromes (such as Lynch syndrome), their risks for colorectal cancer and when to start or type 2 diabetes; and a person’s race and ethnicity testing. [...] • Losing weight without trying • Weakness Screening can be done either with a test that looks for signs of cancer in a person’s stool (a stool-based test), or with an exam that looks at the colon and rectum Treatment (a visual exam). [...] • Highly sensitive guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT)* every year, or Living With Colorectal Cancer • Multi-targeted stool DNA test (MT-sDNA) every 3 years* A colorectal cancer diagnosis affects a person’s quality of life. [...] But, some common signs and symptoms of • Asking and answering questions colorectal cancer might include: • Working together to set care goals • Bleeding from the rectum • Shared decision making • Blood in the stool • Managing side effects and other issues • Change in bowel habits • Making sure to set up follow-up tests and care • Stomach cramping or pain To learn more, visit www.cancer.org/cancer/.