Over the past few years, there has been an increase in cases of colorectal cancer in people under the age of fifty. The problem is that these people unfortunately tend to ignore certain symptoms of the disease. In addition, they are not subject to any organized screening.
Chadwick Boseman died last week at the age of 43. The American actor had been diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 which had since progressed to stage 4. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. If the average age at diagnosis exceeds seventy years, in both men and women, an Italian study published last year had indeed indicated an increase in cases of this cancer in people under fifty.
This study is not the only one to see this trend. “Our patient population is starting to get younger and younger “, indeed explains to Popular Science Nilofer Azad, professor of gastrointestinal oncology at Johns Hopkins University. For its part, the American Cancer Society estimates that 18,000 people under the age of fifty will be diagnosed with colon cancer in 2020.
The problem is that those under fifty are not subject to organized screening. Also the diagnosis of the disease is often made at much later stages, when the cancer becomes much more difficult to fight. For this reason, the American Cancer Society recently lowered the recommended age from 50 to 45 which adults should start getting tested.
Nilofer Azad also recommends that doctors also monitor their young patients for symptoms that might suggest the presence of colorectal cancer. In this population, he says, "symptoms such as bloody stools , unexpected weight loss and prolonged cramps may be overlooked or misdiagnosed as hemorrhoids “.
Busy with careers or children, those under fifty also tend to ignore more certain signals that should normally alert. “If you have these kinds of symptoms, take care of yourself the same way you would tell your parents to take care of them if they told you they had these same symptoms “, continues the doctor.
It is not yet known why the rate of colon cancer is increasing in young adults. The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity could be involved in this phenomenon. A study published last year, for example, pointed out that more than 80,000 cases of cancer diagnosed each year in the United States could be linked to a poor diet . The excessive consumption of processed meat and the lack of whole grains were then pointed out.
Nevertheless, other factors should also be explored. In particular, some researchers hypothesize that the gut microbiota , the collection of billions of micro-organisms that frequent our colon, could also play a role.
Note that Chadwick Boseman also had another major risk factor. Studies have in fact already shown that African Americans, especially men, have the highest rates of colorectal cancer and are more likely to be diagnosed at a younger age.
