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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Evaluation of Colorectal Cancer Risk and Prevalence by Stool DNA Integrity Detection
Published on: June 8, 2020
Bowel movement, state of stool, and subsequent risk for colorectal cancer: the Japan public health center-based
Tetsuya Otani1, Motoki Iwasaki, Manami Inoue
1Epidemiology and Prevention Division, Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan. teotani@gan2.res.ncc.go.jp
Purpose:
Evidence about whether irregular bowel movements or unusual stool conditions are associated with colorectal cancer is still inconsistent.
Methods:
We identified 479 newly diagnosed cases of colorectal cancer (303 men and 176 women) during a 7.9-year follow-up of a cohort consisting of 57,940 subjects (27,529 men and 30,411 women) aged 40 to 69 years at baseline. Bowel movements and stool conditions were asked through a self-administered questionnaire.
Results:
Neither high nor low frequency of bowel movements was associated with colorectal cancer incidence compared with one bowel movement per day. Multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for two bowel movements or more per day were 1.03 (95% CI, 0.76-1.41) in men and 1.16 (95% CI, 0.68-2.00) in women. HRs for two to three bowel movements per week were 0.97 (95% CI, 0.61-1.55) in men and 0.75 (95% CI, 0.49-1.13) in women. There was no clear association between an unusual stool state, such as diarrhea or hard stools, and colorectal cancer.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that neither bowel movement frequency nor any specific state of stool causes colorectal cancer.
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