Colon cancer rates rise among Gen X, millennials

MIAMI: Colon and rectal cancer rates are rising sharply among young and middle-aged adults in the United States but doctors have yet to pinpoint why, researchers said Tuesday.

Generation X and millennials face anywhere from two to four times the risk of colon and rectal cancer as their baby boomer counterparts, a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found.

The study did not uncover a reason for the change. Experts say colon and rectal cancer can be inherited and also influenced by the high-fat, low fibre diets that are common in the Western world.

“Our finding that colorectal cancer risk for millennials has escalated back to the level of those born in the late 1800s is very sobering,” said lead author Rebecca Siegel, a researcher with the American Cancer Society.

“Educational campaigns are needed to alert clinicians and the general public about this increase to help reduce delays in diagnosis, which are so prevalent in young people, but also to encourage healthier eating and more active lifestyles to try to reverse this trend.”

Colon cancer incidence rates increased by one to two per cent per year from the mid-1980s through 2013 in adults ages 20 to 39, the study found.

For adults aged 40 to 54, rates increased by 0.5 to one per cent annually from the mid-1990s through 2013.

The rise has been more pronounced for rectal cancer, climbing about three percent per year from the mid-1970s in people aged 20 to 39.

In adults between 40 and 54, rectal cancer rates increased by two percent per year from the 1990s to 2013.

In general, rectal cancer rates in adults age 55 and older have been declining for the past four decades.

Three in 10 rectal cancer diagnoses are now made in patients under 55. — AFP