<qa>  What is the second commonest cause of cancer death?Colorectal cancer is the second commonest cause of cancer death. Patients with colitis have a substantially increased risk of death from colorectal cancer which increases with lenght of time the patient has had colitis. This can be as high as a 30 chance of colorectal cancer after 30 years of colitis. Colonoscopic surveillance of colitis patients has been shown to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer and allow detection at an earlier stage, but even with meticulous examination, some precancerous lesions or cancers are missed. 