Cancer Research UK: Many factors affect risk

Many factors including diet and genetics affect bowel cancer risk, Cancer Research UK has said.

The charity's comments follow a warning from the World Cancer Research Fund that if people eat 50g of processed meat a day then their bowel cancer risk is increased by 20 per cent.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of health information, said: "Many scientific studies have found that bowel cancer is more common among people who eat lots of red and processed meat.

"Studies like this look at the dietary habits of large numbers of people, so they tell us about the population as a whole.

"This makes it difficult to predict what the risk is to an individual person."

She added: "But if anyone is looking to reduce their risk of bowel cancer, moderating the amount of red and processed meat they eat is a good way to start."

"It's also important to remember that many other parts of your diet and wider lifestyle can affect the risk of bowel cancer – and this along with the genes you inherit will also affect your cancer risk."