Rectal cancer rates are rising in U.S., driving an increase in illness in younger adults

Key Highlights

• Researchers don’t understand why this particular type of cancer is increasing in prevalence.“We didn’t have an epidemic of young people with colon or rectal cancer up until recently,” said Dr.
• Arif Kamal, chief patient officer for the American Cancer Society.
• “It’s really a phenomenon in the last five years or so that we’ve started to see this.”The report found that colorectal cancer rates since the late 1990s:Increased by 3% each year for people ages 20 to 49Increased by 0.4% each year for adults ages 50 to 64Decreased by 2.5% each year for adults 65 and older. The shift toward younger adults with colorectal cancer is prompting doctors to urge earlier education about the disease that, for generations, was considered something that only occurred in older age.
• “We know young patients are presenting with signs and symptoms, and that there’s about a 4- to 6-month gap between symptom presentation and diagnosis, which is alarming,” said Andreana Holowatyj, an assistant professor of hematology and oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
• “How do we educate Gen Zers, millennials and future generations?” Holowatyj was not involved with the new research. What are the symptoms of rectal cancer?Colorectal cancers include cancers of the large intestine, the bulk of which is the colon.