Cancer statistics: Bowel

Bowel cancer: Incidence

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. In 2008, 39,944 cases of bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, were diagnosed.

Of these cancer cases, 22,068 were in men and 17,876 were in women.

Bowel cancer: Mortality

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK. In 2009, there were 15, 919 deaths from bowel cancer.

Of these deaths, 8,606 were men and 7,313 were women.

Proportion preventable

Smoking is a risk factor for bowel cancer. But scientists also estimate the following proportion of bowel cancer cases could be prevented in the UK:

Lifestyle factor	Does doing more increase or decrease risk?	Approximate % preventable in UK through healthy changes
Foods containing fibre	Decrease	12
Red meat	Increase	5
Processed meat	Increase	10
Alcohol	Increase	7
Physical activity	Decrease	12
Body fatness	Increase	7
Total		43

There is also convincing evidence that excess fat around the waist increases risk of bowel cancer. The evidence also shows that diets high in calcium also probably reduce risk of bowel cancer.

You can find out more about how these preventability estimates were calculated. For detailed information about what change would be needed for each factor, download Appendix A of the Policy Report on the Diet and Cancer Report website.

The figures on incidence and mortality come from the following sources: for England (incidence); for Wales (incidence); for England and Wales (mortality); for Scotland; and for Northern Ireland.