Colorectal cancer develops in the colon or rectum. The colon and rectum make up your large intestine, which is part of your lower digestive system. These two cancers are grouped together because they have many common features. Each year in the United States, about 135,430 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Women and men are both at risk for colorectal cancer, but women are slightly less affected. Colorectal cancer occurs in 1 of every 23 women and 1 of every 20 men. Colorectal cancer is expected to cause about 50,040 deaths in the United States in 2017. However, there are more than 100 million colorectal cancer survivors living in the US.