Colorectal Cancer Awareness: A Growing Concern for Younger Adults

Col­orec­tal can­cer is often con­sid­ered a dis­ease pri­mar­i­ly affect­ing old­er adults. How­ev­er, in recent years, an increas­ing num­ber of younger indi­vid­u­als — those in their 20s and 30s — have been diag­nosed with the dis­ease. Kar­tikeya Tri­pathi, MD, a gas­troen­terol­o­gist at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG), is work­ing to raise aware­ness about this con­cern­ing trend and shares advice on how to stay ahead of the dis­ease — no mat­ter your age.

The Rise of Col­orec­tal Can­cer in Younger Populations

Over the past three decades, there has been a notice­able rise in col­orec­tal can­cer diag­noses in indi­vid­u­als under 55. Accord­ing to Dr. Tri­pathi, ​“When we look at the data over the last 30 years, from 1995 to now, the rates of colon can­cer diag­noses in peo­ple under the age of 55 have actu­al­ly doubled.” 

While these cas­es are still rel­a­tive­ly rare — espe­cial­ly in those under 50 — the increase is sig­nif­i­cant and con­cern­ing. ​“It’s still rare to be diag­nosed with colon can­cer under the age of 55,” he explained. ​“Only about 20% of colon can­cer diag­noses are in peo­ple under 50 or 55. So, it’s def­i­nite­ly not the most com­mon out­come, but the increase is some­thing to be aware of.”

Ear­ly Detec­tion: Why It Matters

For younger indi­vid­u­als, Dr. Tri­pathi stress­es the impor­tance of being proac­tive when it comes to changes in bow­el habits. ​“My advice to patients is to be aware of any changes in your bow­el move­ments,” he says. ​“If you notice a change in the size, shape, or con­sis­ten­cy of your stool, or if you see any blood — whether it’s rec­tal bleed­ing or blood spot­ting on the stool or when you wipe — don’t ignore it.”

Colon can­cer can often be asymp­to­matic, which is why it’s crit­i­cal to lis­ten to your body. ​“While it could be some­thing as sim­ple as hem­or­rhoidal bleed­ing, we can’t assume that. Colon can­cer can be asymp­to­matic, so if your body is giv­ing you signs, you should lis­ten and talk to your doc­tor. It’s worth get­ting a colonoscopy to be sure,” he said.

In addi­tion to changes in bow­el move­ments, fatigue — often caused by ane­mia — can also be signs of colon can­cer. Ear­ly detec­tion through screen­ing, espe­cial­ly for those over 45, plays a vital role in improv­ing outcomes.

What’s Dri­ving the Increase?

While genet­ics play a role in some col­orec­tal can­cer cas­es, Dr. Tri­pathi points out that only about 20% of colon can­cer cas­es are linked to known genet­ic caus­es. ​“The rest are con­sid­ered spo­radic, mean­ing they don’t have a known genet­ic cause,” he said. 

So, what is con­tribut­ing to this rise in younger patients? ​“We sus­pect diet, envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors, seden­tary lifestyles, smok­ing, and heavy alco­hol use could be con­tribut­ing factors.”

Diet is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant. Dr. Tri­pathi explains that con­sum­ing processed meats, espe­cial­ly red meat, has been linked to an increased risk of colon can­cer. ​“Processed meats, like cured meats, and red meat in par­tic­u­lar, have been linked to a high­er risk of colon can­cer,” he shared. ​“A large study con­duct­ed in Europe in 2005 found that peo­ple who ate more than 5 ounces of red meat sev­er­al times a week had a sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er inci­dence of colon can­cer com­pared to those who didn’t.”

On the oth­er hand, he points out that chick­en and fish have a pro­tec­tive effect against colon can­cer. ​“Switch­ing to health­i­er pro­tein sources, like chick­en and fish, can help low­er your risk,” he advises.

When it comes to processed food, Dr. Tri­pathi rec­om­mends check­ing labels. ​“I rec­om­mend look­ing at the ingre­di­ents list of what­ev­er you’re con­sum­ing, espe­cial­ly processed foods from the gro­cery store. Not all processed foods are bad; for exam­ple, milk that’s been processed to remove bad fats is fine. But it’s the processed foods that have added ingre­di­ents to extend shelf life that are con­cern­ing. These added preser­v­a­tives aren’t great for your health, and that’s what the research points to.”

Small Lifestyle Changes, Big Impact

To low­er your risk, lifestyle changes can help, Dr. Tri­pathi says.

“Eat­ing a healthy diet, stay­ing phys­i­cal­ly active, and avoid­ing smok­ing and exces­sive alco­hol con­sump­tion are key. Phys­i­cal activ­i­ty helps your body get rid of tired, aging cells, which can reduce your can­cer risk. Even mod­er­ate phys­i­cal activ­i­ty is ben­e­fi­cial,” he shared.

Smok­ing and heavy alco­hol use are sig­nif­i­cant risk fac­tors. ​“As a doc­tor, I take respon­si­bil­i­ty for address­ing these habits with my patients, even if they’re see­ing me for some­thing unre­lat­ed, like irri­ta­ble bow­el syn­drome. We need to rec­og­nize that all these fac­tors are inter­re­lat­ed, and if I can help a patient make even small changes in their lifestyle, it’s worth the effort,” he said.

Screen­ing: The Ear­li­er, The Better

Due to the ris­ing num­ber of younger colon can­cer diag­noses, the rec­om­mend­ed age for screen­ing has been low­ered to 45. Dr. Tri­pathi explains that this change allows health­care providers to catch more cas­es ear­ly, before symp­toms arise.

“The most impor­tant advice I can give is to get screened at the appro­pri­ate age. Start­ing at 45, don’t wait for your 46^th or 47^th birth­day. The rea­son the screen­ing age was low­ered to 45 is based on pop­u­la­tion data, and it’s cru­cial to get screened on time,” he said.

While colon can­cer is still most com­mon­ly diag­nosed in peo­ple over 65, rates in that age group are declin­ing thanks to more effec­tive screen­ing programs.

Don’t Wait — Speak to Your Health­care Provider

As we observe Col­orec­tal Can­cer Aware­ness Month, it’s the per­fect time to pri­or­i­tize your health. Talk to your pri­ma­ry care provider about your screen­ing needs. If you’re at the screen­ing age, you can sched­ule your colonoscopy by call­ing 217−222−6550, ext. 3636 or vis­it­ing quin​cymed​group​.com/​colon.