For those who have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease their doctors often warn them that they may be at higher risk for eventually developing colon cancer. But how realistic is that assumption?

Medical research has shown that indeed Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients have demonstrated a certain increased risk for colon cancer, but the figures are not as high as some assume. Approximately 10% of IBD patients have been shown to go on to develop colon cancer, but the risk does increase by 0.5 – 1% for every year that a patient lives with IBD. That risk also increases if the patient has a family history of colon cancer, but research is not definitive as to by how much the risk increases. The figures may be higher than that though as many people who do suffer from inflammatory bowel disease choose to manage the condition alone and do not seek their doctor’s advice, often out of embarrassment.

Another difficulty for patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and their doctors is that the early symptoms of colon cancer and a flare up of inflammatory bowel disease symptoms are often very similar. The diarrhea, constipation, bloody stools and vomiting can indicate the presence of either condition.

The only definitive way to diagnose colon cancer is via a colonoscopy or a flexible sigmoidoscopy. A tissue sample can be taken during either procedure which can then be tested for malignancy. The current medical recommendation is that everybody, male or female over the age of 50 undergo a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer at least once every ten years, but for those with a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease the recommendation is that they be screened is this way more frequently, even if they have not had a flare up of IBS for some time.

Because the symptoms of an inflammatory bowel disease flare up, which can occur at anytime without warning, are so similar to those of the early stages of colon cancer it is imperative that patients consult with their gastroenterologist whenever it occurs.

When colon cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stages it is a disease that is these days very much a treatable condition, but left unchecked to progress into the later stages it becomes, as is the case in many cancers, far harder to treat. The unfortunate fact is that despite increased public awareness of the disease colon cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Although the number of people seeking colon cancer screening is increasing many medical professionals feel it is still too low, with only about fifty percent of the population over the age of fifty undergoing a colonoscopy.