Colon cancer is killing more younger men and women than ever, new report finds

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Even as overall cancer deaths continue to fall in the U.S., the American Cancer Society is reporting for the first time that colon and rectal cancers have become leading causes of cancer death in younger adults. The finding was published Wednesday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Cancer is traditionally a disease among the elderly, although the percentage of new cases found in people 65 and older has fallen from 61% in 1995 to 58%. The decrease, attributed mainly to drops in prostate and smoking-related cancers, has occurred even though the proportion of people in that age group has grown from 13% to 17% in the general population.

In contrast, new diagnoses among adults ages 50 to 64 have increased since 1995, from 25% to 30%.

Rates of breast and endometrial cancer, as well as mouth and throat disease, have been on the rise. The report did not break down those diagnoses by age.

The findings reflect what cancer doctors have observed for years.

"For a couple of decades now, we have been noticing that the patients coming into our clinic seem to be younger and younger," said Dr. Kimmie Ng, the director of the Young Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. "What this report now cements for us is that these trends are real." Ng was not involved with the new report.

Dr. William Dahut, the chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, said younger people tend to be diagnosed at later stages, when the cancer is more aggressive.

"So it's not only having a colorectal cancer — it's colorectal cancer that’s more difficult to treat, which is why we’re seeing these changes in mortality," Dahut said.

The diagnosis of late-stage colorectal cancer was a shock to Sierra Fuller, 33, of Acton, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

It was around Christmas 2021 when Fuller noticed blood in her stool when she went to the bathroom. With no family history of colon cancer, she figured the problem was most likely an annoying hemorrhoid.

Weeks later, the blood deposits worsened, and she started having abdominal pain.

Sierra Fuller and her husband, Steven, had just begun to think about starting a family when Sierra was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

"It was a month from when I got the symptoms to when I sought help, and I realize that I was pushing it," she said. Tests revealed she had stage 3b colorectal cancer. That usually means the cancer has started to spread through the colon and possibly to nearby lymph nodes, but not any farther, according to the American Cancer Society.

It was a blow to Fuller and her husband, who had just started talking about whether to try for a baby. They decided to freeze embryos before Fuller's treatment protocol, which would include radiation, chemotherapy and surgery.

It is an example of how cancer uniquely affects young patients.

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