What are the risks of colorectal cancer in older age? | What is the typical age for colon cancer?

What are the risks of colorectal cancer in older age?

Bowel cancer at an advanced age can cause some problems. First of all, old age can make it more difficult to diagnose bowel cancer. Since colorectal cancer, like most types of cancer, has no specific symptoms and progresses only slowly, accompanying symptoms such as weight loss, exhaustion and reduced performance can be misinterpreted by both the doctor and the person affected as “normal” weakness in old age, thereby delaying the diagnosis.

Bowel irregularities and constipation, further symptoms of intestinal cancer, are also widespread among older people. It is also important to note that haemorrhoids (the frequency of which also increases with age), just like bowel cancer, can lead to blood in the stool and can therefore conceal bowel cancer. Apart from detecting bowel cancer, old age can also make treatment difficult for a number of reasons.

For one thing, the frequency of secondary diseases such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, heart failure and diabetes mellitus increases with age. In principle, the rate of complications after an operation is also higher in old age. Furthermore, physical reserves shrink with age, which is why high doses of chemotherapy are not tolerated as well and lead to complications more often, which also limits the therapeutic options in this respect.

At what age should one start a colon cancer screening?

At what age one should start with colorectal cancer screening varies and depends on the individual risk profile. In principle, for non-risk individuals, i.e. the large majority of the population, early detection is recommended by annual tests for blood in the stool from the age of 50 or by a colonoscopy every 10 years from the age of 55. For risk persons, it is generally true that colorectal cancer screening should take place earlier.

First-degree relatives of a patient with colorectal cancer should ideally begin screening 10 years before the age of the affected relative, but no later than the age of 40 to 45. In the case of those affected by genetic diseases, screening is tailored to the respective disease and usually begins around the age of 25. At the FAP, however, due to the high risk, precautionary measures must already be started from the age of 12 years.