In Germany, many people will develop colorectal cancer during their lifetime. Most of them are older than 70 years at the time of diagnosis. One in 17 men is then affected. Among women, the rate is a bit lower, at five percent according to the evaluation. Colon cancer is much more common than cancer of the small intestine. According to the RKI, only 2,600 people are diagnosed with small bowel cancer per year, while colon cancer is significantly higher with 58,000 new cases. Risk factors such as smoking, high alcohol consumption, the consumption of red meat, obesity and lack of exercise, but also certain metabolic factors increase the risk of developing intestinal cancer, especially of the colon. According to a long-term study conducted by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) between 1964 and 2015, based on data from 13 million people born after 1931, diabetics are particularly at risk of developing colorectal cancer at a young age, i.e. under 50 years of age. The team of analysts from the scientific institutes in Heidelberg in cooperation with research experts from the University of Lund (Sweden) have found that there is a close correlation between type 2 diabetes and familial risk of developing colon cancer. Among other things, the study and subsequent analysis showed that 560,000 of the people investigated had diabetes and 162,000 had colorectal cancer. The study also showed that the risk is the same in all age groups. The researchers investigated whether the risk of colorectal cancer is the same for diabetics under 50 years of age with and without a family history: diabetics who have a first-degree family history have a sevenfold increased risk of developing colorectal cancer at a young age. The evaluation also showed that the risk in diabetics without relatives with colorectal cancer is similarly high as in non-diabetics with family history. Experts, therefore, recommend early colorectal cancer screening, as many diabetics develop the disease at under 50 years of age. In Germany, however, people are not entitled to colorectal cancer screening until the age of 50. Experts recommend that diabetics start appropriate preventive measures earlier because colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer and even the second most frequent cause of death among the various types of cancer. Diabetics are part of the high-risk pool who need early screening.
