Hello and thanks for posting

I am sorry to hear you are worried about bowel cancer and can understand how this ongoing bleeding and family history must be concerning you.

Symptoms can be caused by so many different things and most of the time won't be down to anything as serious as a cancer however it is important to get these things checked out when they persist just to be on the safe side.

It is fair to say if the rectal bleeding is caused by piles which may be a real possibility if it seems to happens after passing hard stools. So there is a high chance if a FIT test was carried out around the time of bleeding then the test would come back positive.

I must add if you have had no other red flag symptoms and it has been on and off for 3 years this is a good sign because if it were something suspicious you would assume the symptoms would be much worse by now.

When cancer is in the family, people often assume that this greatly increases their risk of developing it, but this isn't necessarily so. Although the genes we inherit may influence our risk, this may not be by very much. This is quite a complicated topic and it might be useful to look at our section explaining genes and inherited cancer risk at this link.

Cancer is described as a genetic disease because it is caused by mistakes or faults in the genes of in a single cell. But in most cases of cancer, these gene faults develop over someone's lifetime and are not inherited. Faulty cancer genes can be passed from one generation to the next, but they are uncommon. As your GP has said because your dad and uncle were older when they were diagnosed there may be no increased risk to yourself.

Do talk your symptoms and concerns through with your GP. They are in the best position to assess you and arrange further tests if needed. 

Best wishes

Naomi