What to know about the rise in colon cancer cases among young adults

Amna Nawaz:

Well, many people associate colon cancer with old age, but that's not the case anymore, as the number of young people being diagnosed is on the rise.

Geoff Bennett:

PBS "News Hour"'s Deema Zein reports on the latest research and patients' experiences.

Deema Zein:

The number of young people being diagnosed with cancer is on the rise, and that includes colon cancer, which many people associate with old age, but not anymore, says Dr. Andrea Cercek, head of the colorectal section at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Andrea Cercek, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center:

Normally, for colon cancer patients, they were in their 60s, 70s, or 80s, and then all of a sudden we were seeing this influx of young adults.

Imtiaz Hussain, Diagnosed at 26: I never thought that I would have cancer, because I was like just young, 26 years old. And it was heartbreaking.

Deema Zein:

An estimated 154,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer in 2025, according to the American Cancer Society. One in five are young, under the age of 55.

Imtiaz Hussain is one of them. He never thought colon cancer would affect him, especially at such a young age.

Imtiaz Hussain:

The first time I got my bleeding, I should have gone to colonoscopy, because I ignored it. I got my bleeding — I started bleeding seven months prior to I got diagnosis.

Deema Zein:

Katie Standley was a young new mother when she started noticing changes in her body. For a few years, her symptoms were passed off as related to having children.

Katie Standley, Diagnosed at 34: At that time, I was having so many issues, all I needed was an answer. And I feel like I was just getting kind of brushed off as it being something else.

Deema Zein:

While many factors have been associated with the rise in cancer diagnosis, the exact reason still needs more research, Cercek says.

Dr. Andrea Cercek:

We think it's likely what we call sort of environmental factors or combination of environmental factors, change in our lifestyle, our diets, what we're ingesting in addition to kind of processed foods, high sugar, antibiotics, exposure to certain things like microplastics.

Deema Zein:

One tool in the fight against colon cancer, early screening. In 2018, the American Cancer Society became the first organization to drop the recommended colorectal cancer screening age from 50 to 45.

In 2021, more organizations followed suit.

Katie Standley:

I had a fight and advocate to get myself a colonoscopy at a local G.I. doctor.

Deema Zein:

But the lowered screening age doesn't help a population of young patients like Standley, who still didn't qualify when she had symptoms in her early 30s.

So why not screen everyone from the start? Cercek says it's just not feasible to do colonoscopies for everyone in their 20s and 30s. But she hopes the increase in interest, research and funding will significantly improve and lead to earlier detection.

Dr. Andrea Cercek:

The best we can do right now is to pay attention to our own symptoms and be our own advocates.

Deema Zein:

That's what Standley did. She received a colonoscopy years after her first symptoms began.

Katie Standley:

I was diagnosed at the end of a colonoscopy when they found a 15-centimeter tumor blocking my colon. And a week later, a surgeon staged me at stage four, which spread to my sacral bone and possibly my lung.

Deema Zein:

There are a few things you can look out for, no screening required.

Dr. Andrea Cercek:

Any symptoms that are persistent, and usually by persistent we mean lasting a few days, of things like bright red blood for rectum, so rectal bleeding, change in bowel habits like constipation or diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain super, super tired from anemia, potentially.

Really, the person should get checked out by their primary care provider or not necessarily even to start with a gastroenterologist, just at that conversation of what's going on.

Katie Standley:

Colonoscopy is an uncomfortable, annoying calendar date, but it is so much better than dealing with a diagnosis of cancer.

Deema Zein:

For PBS News, I'm Deema Zein.