Or if you have a family history of colon cancer, doctors will recommend you start screening 10 years before the age of your relative when they were diagnosed.

Screenings are highly recommended because colon cancer grows relatively slowly, and when caught early is easily and successfully treated.

People can grow polyps in their intestines (which can later develop into cancer) at any age.

Once a polyp has developed into cancer it is important to remove it and at the same time analyze the situation to see if the tumor has penetrated the wall of the intestine or metastasized into the lymph nodes. This determination will be important in deciding how aggressive the treatment needs to be and what the long-term prognosis will be.