Can Hemorrhoids Turn Into Cancer? (No — and Why This Question Matters)

No. Hemorrhoids are swollen venous tissue, not abnormal cell growth, and there’s no biological pathway by which they transform into cancer. This is a clear, settled answer — but the reason this question matters isn’t really about hemorrhoids turning into cancer. It’s about something else entirely.

Key takeaways

Hemorrhoids do not become cancerous — they’re a different type of tissue change (vascular swelling) from cancer (abnormal cell growth).
The genuine concern isn’t hemorrhoids causing cancer — it’s a separate cancer being mistakenly attributed to hemorrhoids because the symptoms overlap.
You can have both hemorrhoids and colorectal cancer at the same time — one doesn’t rule out the other.

Why the direct answer is no

Cancer develops through genetic mutations causing cells to grow uncontrollably — a fundamentally different biological process from hemorrhoid formation, which is simple swelling and displacement of normal, existing vascular tissue (see Why do hemorrhoids happen?). There’s no established mechanism by which one process leads to the other, and this is a consistent, settled position across medical sources.

So why does this question keep coming up?

Because the real risk in this space isn’t hemorrhoids becoming cancer — it’s rectal bleeding, a symptom hemorrhoids commonly cause, being automatically and confidently attributed to hemorrhoids when it’s occasionally actually caused by colorectal cancer, which shares the same symptom. This distinction — “hemorrhoids don’t cause cancer” versus “cancer can be mistaken for hemorrhoids” — is easy to blur, and blurring it in the wrong direction is exactly the pattern this site was built to interrupt (see Rectal bleeding under 50: why it’s taken less seriously).

You can have both at the same time

Having hemorrhoids doesn’t rule out colorectal cancer being present separately and simultaneously — the two conditions aren’t mutually exclusive, and a confirmed hemorrhoid diagnosis doesn’t mean every symptom you’re experiencing is explained by it (see When two conditions coexist).

A note on research suggesting an association

Some epidemiological research has found people with a hemorrhoid diagnosis have a somewhat higher subsequent rate of colorectal cancer diagnosis than people without one. This doesn’t mean hemorrhoids cause cancer — the more plausible explanations discussed in this research include shared risk factors, or (perhaps more likely) that some of these colorectal cancers were already present and contributing to symptoms at the time of the “hemorrhoid” diagnosis, only to be correctly identified later. This is an area of ongoing research rather than a settled mechanism, and it doesn’t change the practical guidance on this site either way.

What actually matters practically

Rectal bleeding, a lump, or other hemorrhoid-like symptoms should be evaluated on their own merits, using the red flags framework — not dismissed simply because “hemorrhoids don’t cause cancer” (true, but not the relevant question)
A previous hemorrhoid diagnosis doesn’t mean new or worsening symptoms can be assumed to be the same hemorrhoids without re-evaluation
Routine colorectal cancer screening starting at 45 (or earlier with risk factors) remains relevant regardless of your hemorrhoid history — see Colorectal cancer screening starts at 45

The one-sentence version

Hemorrhoids don’t cause cancer — but the confidence people (and sometimes clinicians) place in that fact can accidentally excuse skipping the actual evaluation a symptom deserves, which is the real risk worth paying attention to.

Want the fuller picture on distinguishing the two? See Colorectal cancer vs. hemorrhoids: how to tell.

This page is for general education. It reflects the settled scientific consensus that hemorrhoids do not become cancerous, while addressing the genuine and separate risk of symptom misattribution.