Colon cancer up among younger adults
Colon cancer, among other cancers, is increasingly impacting younger adults each year. While doctors are not sure of the cause of the changes, the recommended age for colon cancer screening is 45, or even younger if you have a family history of the disease.
Dr. Matthew Knecht, a radiation oncologist with Kettering Health Medical Group Interventional Radiology, said the rates of colon or rectal cancer among younger adults, about 50 to 55 years and younger, have been rising approximately 1% per year.
“While the cases still remain low among that group, they are rising,” Knecht said.
As whole, the cancer incidence rate has been decreasing, but that downward trend is mostly in older adults.
The rate of people being diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer each year has dropped overall since the mid1980s, according to the American Cancer Society, mainly because more people are getting screened and changing their lifestyle-related risk factors.
From 2011 to 2019, incidence rates dropped by about 1% each year, mostly in older adults. In people younger than 50, rates have been increasing by 1% to 2% a year since the mid-1990s.
“There is not a clear causative agent there at this time,” Knecht said.
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States, impacting about 1 in 23 men and 1 in 26 women, according to the American Cancer Society.
The ACS’ estimates for the number of colorectal cancers in the United States for 2023 are 106,970 for new cases of colon cancer and 46,050 new
cases of rectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women, and it’s the second most common cause of cancer deaths when numbers for men and women are combined.
The American Cancer Society estimates it will cause about 52,550 deaths this year.
Doctors have historically recommended screenings start at the age of 50, but that is no longer the case, Knecht said.
“It is 45 that you should start getting screened for colon cancer,” Knecht said.
There are multiple screening options available, and Knecht recommended patients speak with their physicians or primary care providers about which would be the best option. Options include colonoscopies or stool DNA testing.
One of the things doctors look for when screening for colon cancer is the growth of cells, called polyps, that could turn into cancer. Most colon polyps are not dangerous, but they have the potential to turn into cancer, so doctors typically remove and test them.
Knecht said screenings can help catch those polyps that are at risk of developing into cancer, reducing risk.
“Colonoscopies not only catch cancer at earlier stages, but because a lot of colon cancer develops from a polyp — which is a precancerous legion — colonoscopies can actually remove those polyps and decrease the rate of developing cancer,” Knecht said.
Dr. Joseph Allen, who specializes in family medicine at Premier Health, said individuals who also have a family history of colon or rectal cancer within their immediate family, such as a parent or sibling, may need to start screenings before the age of 45.
Allen said individuals who have a first-degree relative with a history of colorectal cancer should start screenings approximately 10 years before the age it was diagnosed in the relative.
If a parent or sibling was diagnosed at age 50 with colon cancer, any immediate relatives should start getting screened at age 40.
Other diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, may make an individual more susceptible to colon cancer, as well.
Allen also suggested that one of the reasons doctors are seeing more cancer rates among younger adults is better screening tests uncovering those cancers earlier.
“We can identify it earlier,” Allen said. “We can essentially prevent that cancer from occurring.”