Investigators: Prof Emily Banks, Dr Grace Joshy, Prof Kerin O’Dea, Prof David Roder (CI), Dr Annika Steffen. Colorectal cancer (CRC) substantially contributes to the burden of cancer in Western countries and is thought to be largely preventable through modification of diet and lifestyle. The identification of high-risk individuals who would most likely benefit from lifestyle modification, and/or a proven screening or surveillance strategy, could allow intervention resources to be focused and substantially reduce the burden of CRC. A model summarising the effect of dietary and lifestyle factors on an individual’s risk of CRC would be a valuable tool for clinical practice and for planning medical research. A number of modifiable risk and protective factors have already been consistently and convincingly identified in epidemiologic studies, including physical activity, BMI status, smoking history, alcohol intake and the consumption of red and processed meat and dietary fibre. However, there has been little prior research in the development of quantitative models for summarising the effect of multiple risk factors and estimating an individual’s absolute risk of CRC. The aim of the present research is to develop a simple, practical and informative risk score using easily accessible sociodemographic, dietary and lifestyle data, for predicting absolute risk of CRC among older adults in the 45 and Up Study.