As of the 2016 estimates of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) how many people in how many people in the U.S. are expected to die from colorectal cancer?

For 2016, the National Cancer Institute has estimated that there will be 134,490 new cases of colorectal cancer and an estimated 49,190 people will die of this disease. This is cancer that starts in the colon or the rectum. These cancers are also named colon cancer or rectal cancer, depending on where they start. They are however often grouped together because they have many features in common.

Most colorectal cancers begin as a growth on the inner lining of the colon or rectum called a polyp. Some types of polyps can change into cancer over the course of several years, but not all. The chance of the polyp changing into cancer depends on the kind of polyp.

Colon cancer incidence and mortality rates are highest in African American men and women; incidence rates are about 25% higher and mortality rates are about 50% higher than those in whites. Incidence and mortality rates among other major racial/ethnic groups are lower than those among whites.