Male bowel cancer on the increase, says Cancer Research

Bowel cancer rates among men have increased by more than a quarter in the last 35 years, a report has suggested.

The Cancer Research UK study said this contrasted with a rise of just 6% in the rate for women over the same time, The BBC reports.

However, bowel cancer survival rates are are improving with half of all patients living for at least 10 years after being diagnosed.
It is not known why there should be such a large difference in the increase in rates between men and women.

Rising rates of bowel cancer may be linked to obesity and diets high in red and processed meat and low in fibre, as well as the increasing age of the population.

The disease is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK after lung cancer.
Cases of bowel cancer for men have increased from 45 per 100,000 in 1975-77 to 58 per 100,000 in 2008-10, a rise of 29%.
The figures for women were 35 per 100,000 rising to 37 per 100,000 in the same timescale.

The age group with the biggest rise is those in their 60s and 70s, who experience 23,000 new cases a year.