A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a disease such as cancer.
Different cancers have different risk factors.
For example, unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer and smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lungs, larynx, mouth, throat, esophagus, kidneys, bladder and several other organs. Researchers have identified several risk factors that increase a person's chance of developing colorectal cancer. These abnormalities are described below. No other clearly identified genetic abnormalities have been described. Colorectal cancer is more often seen in families that do not have one of these syndromes.