The guidelines of most medical organizations don't recommend regular colon cancer screening -- a colonoscopy every ten years -- until a person has passed the age of 50. That's because evidence has suggested colon cancer is a risk largely assumed by the aging and elderly.
But that assumption is now being reconsidered, as new research shows colon cancer rates among young adults and middle-aged people are on the rise. In a recently published study, researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston analyzed trends among data collected on more than 393,000 colorectal cancer patients diagnosed between 1975 and 2010.
While incident rates are trending downward among older adults, largely thanks to improved screening methods, more young people are being diagnosed with the disease each year.
Over the last three decades, the annual incidence rate in patients under age 34 has increased across all stages of disease, localized (a tumor in the colon or rectum), regional (cancer spread to colon from nearby organs) and distant (severely metastasized cancer).
"This is an important moment in cancer prevention," the study's lead researcher, Dr. George J. Chang, said in a press release. "We're observing the potential real impact of CRC among young people if no changes are made in public education and prevention efforts. This is the moment to reverse this alarming trend."
If the trends continues, researchers predict that CRC rates will double for those between the ages of 20 and 34 by 2030. The medical researchers, whose study was published this week in the journal JAMA Surgery, list lack of exercise, obesity and poor diets (too much processed meat, not enough fruits and vegetables) as factors contributing to the risk of colorectal cancer, but say they can't be sure what's driving the rate increases among young people.
"Further studies are needed to determine the cause for these trends and identify potential preventive and early detection strategies," the researchers concluded.
"While our study observations are limited to CRC, similar concerns are being raised about breast cancer, as we see incidence increasing among younger women," added Chang. "Identifying these patterns is a crucial first step toward initiating important shifts in cancer prevention."