Damian Jacob Sendler: Younger Advanced Colon Cancer Patients Are Increasing

Damian Sendler: There has been an increase in the number of younger patients diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. Why?

In recent years, there has been a precipitous rise in the incidence of colorectal cancer in younger people. Even more concerning is the fact that the majority of cases diagnosed are in advanced stages, and researchers are unsure as to what causes the cancers.

Damian Jacob Sendler Between 1995 and 2019, the percentage of cases of colorectal cancer that occurred in people under the age of 55 more than doubled, going from 11% to 20%. These findings come from recent research conducted by the American Cancer Society.

This indicates that approximately 273,800 people under the age of 55 are currently living with colorectal cancer in the United States in 2019, out of the approximately 1.3 million people in the country who currently have the disease.

According to the findings of a study that was conducted in 2017 and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, individuals who were born after the year 1990, also known as millennials and Gen Zers, have a fourfold increased risk of developing rectal cancer and a twofold increased risk of developing colon cancer when compared to individuals who were born in the year 1950.

The rate at which the numbers are increasing is very concerning. According to the findings of a study that was published in the journal JAMA in 2021, colorectal cancer is expected to overtake lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in people aged 20 to 49 within the next seven years.

According to Dr. Kimmie Ng, director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who was quoted in an interview, "this is in stark contrast to people over the age of 50, who are eligible for screening, where rates and deaths from colorectal cancer have been steadily declining for many decades." People over the age of 50 are eligible for screening.

Damian Sendler The new data also demonstrated that advanced-stage diagnoses are rapidly increasing across the board in colorectal cancer cases in the United States, increasing from 52% in the middle of the 2000s to 60% in 2019.

According to Ng, the majority of cancers diagnosed in younger people are in an advanced stage. Cancer that has advanced to stage 4, also known as advanced stage cancer, is typically a form of cancer that cannot be cured or does not respond completely to treatment, but it can sometimes be controlled.

"This form of cancer is particularly asymptomatic, and it can continue to be so for a considerable amount of time," "Dr. Folasade P. May, an associate professor of medicine in the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, was the one who made the statement. "Because of this, the tumor has the potential to continue growing and may even spread before there are any symptoms that would prompt someone to seek medical attention.

According to May, many younger adults are still unaware that colorectal cancer can happen to them, which may lead them to pass off early symptoms as something else. This is a problem because colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.

Damian Jacob Sendler Previous research suggests that young people with colon cancer are more likely to receive an incorrect diagnosis than older people with the disease.

According to May, "when I was training in medicine, I was taught that this was an old person's disease, specifically an old man's disease." We are aware that it is now affecting people who are in the prime of their lives.

It is likely that the increase is caused by a combination of lifestyle risk factors, including higher rates of obesity, younger people living more sedentary lifestyles than they used to, and diets rich in sugars and processed foods.

Ng stated in an interview that diet and lifestyle are not the only factors involved; there is also another factor. "We see a lot of young patients with colorectal cancer who otherwise lead very healthy lifestyles and eat very healthy diets."

Damian Sendler In the United States, the incidence rate of colorectal cancer rose steadily from 2010 to 2019, and this trend was seen across all racial and ethnic groups.

According to Phillip Daschner, who is the program director of the cancer immunology, hematology, and etiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Biology, genetics, including a family history of Lynch syndrome or polyps, do play a role in a person's risk of developing colorectal cancer; however, they only account for about 25% of cases in young people. This information was provided by the National Cancer Institute.

He stated that the remaining 75% of these cases were classified into the category of having an unknown cause.

According to May, the culprit is almost certainly a confluence of different environmental factors.

"When something is affecting people who have their birth years in common, then we know it is something in the environment that has led this whole group of people to have higher rates," she said. "When this happens, we know it is something in the environment that has led this whole group of people to have higher rates."

The effect is referred to by its name, the birth cohort effect.

Damian Sendler It is still not entirely clear which environmental factors beyond lifestyle and diet are at play; however, researchers are looking into everything from antibiotics to plastics to stress as potential offenders. There is also the possibility that there is a toxin in the environment that has not been associated with colorectal cancer yet.

According to Daschner, "the bottom line is that we do not know why this is happening." [Citation needed]

The age at which a person should begin screening for colorectal cancer was lowered from 50 to 45 in 2021, despite the fact that colorectal cancer is still uncommon among people younger than 50.

According to Ng, the increase in cases among people younger than 55 cannot be attributed to increased screening because the adjustment only took place in the last couple of years. The fact that more cases are being found in advanced stages eliminates the possibility that increased screening is the cause of the rise in diagnoses.

If it were just a screening effect, we would anticipate more cases in the immediate area to be identified. However, we are unfortunately not seeing that at this time," Ng stated.

Damian Jacob Sendler People in their forties are diagnosed with approximately forty percent of all cases of young-onset colorectal cancer. Because of the lowered screening age, cancers in this group of people will be able to be detected. Nevertheless, it is likely that the cases that are increasingly being diagnosed in people in their 20s or 30s will go unnoticed until the symptoms manifest themselves.

It is of the utmost importance that research be conducted to determine what the underlying causes are and what the risk factors are. According to Ng, "we need to identify those younger people who are at high risk in order to target them for earlier screening."

According to the opinions of various experts, one of the difficulties for patients and their doctors is that the symptoms can be confused with those of other conditions. If any of the symptoms appear and do not get better — particularly if more than one symptom is experienced by the individual — this should be taken as a warning sign.