When cancer starts in the colon or rectum, it is called colorectal cancer. Sometimes it is called colon cancer, for short.
Sometimes abnormal growths, called polyps, form in the colon or rectum. Over time, some polyps may turn into cancer.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and women combined in West Virginia.
Between 2015-2019, an average of 1,129 West Virginians were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 435 die from the disease each year.
There is a growing trend of people 20-45 years of age in the United States being diagnosed with colorectal cancer since the 1990s.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.
The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is about 1 in 23 for men and 1 in 25 for women.

Screening tests can find polyps so they can be removed before turning into cancer.
Colorectal cancer screening, starting at age 45 and continuing through age 75, can find cancer early when it is easier to treat and cure.
People at an increased risk of getting colorectal cancer should talk to their healthcare provider about when to begin screening, which test is right for them, and how often to get tested.
People may need to be tested before the age of 45, or more often if they have:
- Inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
- A personal or family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps
- A genetic syndrome such a familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (Lynch syndrome)

Several screening tests can be used to find polyps or colorectal cancer.
People with a positive or abnormal test result on stool-based tests will need to complete a colonoscopy.

Test Type	Screening Method	Frequency
Stool-based Tests	Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)	Every Year
	Guaiac Fecal Occult Blood Test (gFOBT)	Every Year
	Multi-Targeted Stool DNA Test (mt-sDNA)	Every 3 Years
Direct Visualization Tests	Colonoscopy	Every 10 Years
	CT Colonography	Every 5 Years
	Flexible Sigmoidoscopy	Every 5 Years
	Flexible Sigmoidoscopy with FIT	Flexible Sigmoidoscopy every 10 years + FIT every year

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