"Most colorectal cancer is a lifestyle disease," said Colleen Doyle, RD, MS, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society (ACS). "For the average person, choosing a basically healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk to a very small one."

According to Doyle, there are three basic ways to reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer: adopting a proper diet, being physically active and undergoing screening. The ACS advises these lifestyle habits:

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables – at least five servings a day, preferably more. This can lower your colorectal cancer risk by 40 to 50 percent. It’s especially good to eat fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors. The colors are from substances called flavonoids that interfere with the process of developing cancer. And, you should cut back on fats, especially the saturated fats in foods like beef, pork and lamb.
• Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days. This helps speed food through the digestive tract, so any cancer-causing agents in food don’t have time to do much damage. And, you should maintain a healthy body weight because being overweight can increase your colorectal cancer risk.
• Following ACS screening guidelines is one of the most certain ways to prevent colorectal cancer.

Screening can reveal hidden signs of colorectal disease or precancerous polyps. If a precancerous polyp (a small, mushroom-shaped growth that can turn cancerous) is found, it can be removed and cancer can be prevented. If a cancer is already present, screening can find it early, when chances for a cure are higher.

For people at average risk of developing colorectal cancer, the ACS recommends one of the following screening programs, beginning at age 50:

• A yearly fecal occult blood test (FOBT), in which small samples of feces are tested chemically to check for hidden (occult) blood. Because FOBT can miss some cancers and precancerous polyps, the first FOBT should be given along with a flexible sigmoidoscopy, in which a thin, flexible, lighted tube is passed into the lower part of the colon to allow a doctor to see inside the lower one-third of the colon. The FOBT should be repeated every year and the flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years.
• A total colon exam (TCE) every 10 years beginning at age 50. The two testing options for TCE are a colonoscopy (a long, flexible lighted tube passed through the colon that allows a doctor to see inside the entire colon and to remove precancerous polyps) every 10 years, or a double contrast barium enema (DCBE) every five years. In DCBE, contrast fluid is placed through the anus into the colon so that X-ray images can detect polyps or cancers inside the colon.
• A digital rectal exam (which the doctor feels for any abnormalities in the rectum and lower part of the colon) should be done at the same time as every sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy or DCBE exam.

"Screening is a key reason more people are surviving colorectal cancer today than in earlier decades," said Deborah Kirkland, manager of the colorectal cancer program for the ACS. "More than 90 percent of people survive colorectal cancer now if it’s found in the early, localized stages."

"But with more attention to diet and activity – and by taking the time to be screened – people can avoid ever having this disease," Kirkland added. "And that’s even better."