Health experts are tracking a concerning trend in colorectal cancer: Its burden is shifting to a younger population. While rates of the disease continue to decline among older adults, a new report published by the American Cancer Society finds nearly half of new colorectal cancer cases are being diagnosed in adults under 65, up from 27 percent three decades ago.
For adults under 50, colorectal cancer is now the number one cause of cancer-related mortality. Roughly 30 years ago, it was the fifth-leading cause of cancer deaths in this group.
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“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger generations of men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report, said in a news release. These latest findings were published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updated its guidelines in 2021 to say that individuals should get an initial screening for colorectal cancer at age 45, instead of waiting until they’re 50.
Screening matters so much because colorectal cancer, which is projected to be diagnosed in 158,850 people in the U.S. in 2026, often doesn’t cause symptoms in the early stages, says Dr. Scott Kopetz, a professor in the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology, division of cancer medicine, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Screening matters so much because colorectal cancer, which is projected to be diagnosed in 158,850 people in the U.S. in 2026, often doesn’t cause symptoms in the early stages, says Dr. Scott Kopetz, a professor in the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology, division of cancer medicine, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
The 8 warning signs of colorectal cancer are: 1) a change in bowel habits (think diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of your stool) that lasts for more than a few days, 2) an urge to have a bowel movement that’s not relieved by having one, 3) rectal bleeding. “Any bleeding you see, even if it’s just one time, should not be ignored,” says Dr. Daniel Labow, a surgical oncologist at the Nuvance Health Praxair Cancer Center in Connecticut. 4) dark brown or black stool (which can indicate blood), 5) cramping or belly pain, 6) weakness and fatigue, 7) unexplained weight loss. If you have colorectal cancer, your body releases certain hormones into your bloodstream that can lead to weight loss, even if you continue to eat normally, Labow says, & 8) unexplained anemia. “It could be from losing blood from someplace like your rectum,” Labow says.
In July 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a blood test to screen for colorectal cancer in adults 45 and older who are at average risk for the disease.
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the blood test developed by Guardant Health detected 83 percent of colorectal cancer found during colonoscopy screening of people with average colorectal cancer risk, making it a good option for those who choose not to have a colonoscopy or do stool-based testing, study coauthor Dr. William M. Grady, a gastroenterologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, told AARP. Article courtesy of AARP.