For example, in some instances, family members may have either colorectal cancer or stomach cancer or both. In these families, colorectal cancer is just one feature of a larger illness. You may want to discuss this further with your physician or a genetic counselor . These gene variants increase the susceptibility of family members to colorectal cancer. As with most human diseases, both environment and genes play a role.
Colorectal cancer is no exception.
The development of colorectal cancer is a matter of nature and nurture working together, not nature versus nurture. Each polyp is a step toward cancer. They do not, however, develop polyps in the same number as in the FAP syndrome. They were relatively easy to discover because they exert strong effects. Cancer cells grow and spread in ways that normal cells do not.