Reasons for the reported disparity of rising bowel cancer rates among men and women are unknown, Cancer Research UK has said.
According to new statistics, bowel cancer rates have risen by 30% for men, while women have seen an increase of only 6%.
Rates have climbed from 45 cases per 100,000 men between 1975 to 1977 to 58 cases from 2008 to 2010; an overall rise of 29%.
But in women cases have only increased slightly from 35 to 37% in the same time period, the statistics show.
The largest rise in those diagnosed with the disease has been among people in their 60s and 70s, with more than 23,000 now diagnosed each year.
According to Cancer Research UK, the reasons for this rise, and the difference between men and women, are unknown.
Professor Matthew Seymour, professor of gastrointestinal cancer medicine at the University of Leeds and director of the National Cancer Research Network, said: "We know the risk of bowel cancer increases as we get older and, since we're all living longer, it's no surprise to see that the number of people getting the disease is rising.
"But when we look at these figures and take people's age into account, we still see that the risk of bowel cancer has gone up in men in the last 35 years. It's important to find out what's behind the rise and what we can do about it."
But despite the rise in incidence among men, bowel cancer survival is improving year on year, with half of all patients living for at least 10 years after a diagnosis.
Seymour said research had led to better drugs, improved techniques, greater use of radiotherapy andf the introduction of screening to spot it earlier.
Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said many of the risk factors for bowel cancer were well understood as diet, weight, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK after lung cancer.
