Unraveling Medical Mystery Behind Young People and Cancer
- “Country Ever After” star Criscilla Anderson, 44, is living with stage 4 colorectal cancer. She was diagnosed with the disease in 2018. Her diagnosis is among a growing number of people under 50 impacted by the disease.
- Researchers have studied why more people under 50 are facing cancer diagnoses, most notably gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal cancer, which has seen the sharpest increase.
- Dr. Kimmie Ng at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute believes people at higher risk of cancer at a young age are likely to experience blood in their stool, changes in bowel habits, stomach pains, and unexplained weight loss years before a diagnosis.
- Researchers say increased obesity rates, processed foods, and environmental factors likely contribute to the growing number of young people diagnosed with cancer.
“Country Ever After” TV star Criscilla Anderson, 44, was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in her late-30s. She’s still living with the disease while keeping up with treatment. Her cancer journey has become increasingly shared by countless others under 50 battling colon cancer.
For years, oncologists and related experts have studied why younger people are being diagnosed with cancer – specifically colorectal cancer – more since the 1990s.
Read MoreDr. Ng adds young people at cancer risk may also experience more fatigue than usual and have unexplained weight loss.
“We do think it’s probably an environmental exposure or risk factor or combination of such that is likely leading to the rise of this disease in younger people,” Dr. Ng explained.
One of the most puzzling elements of this medical mystery is that many of the young people diagnosed with cancer are healthy overall.
“They’re very active, exercise a lot, follow healthy diets, and they don’t have a history of cancer in their family, and they don’t have a background of a genetic syndrome,” Dr. Ng explained.
Other notable findings in Dr. Ng’s research suggest people who were breastfed were at higher risk of getting colorectal cancer before age 50.
The National Cancer Institute reports that since the 1990s, colorectal cancer cases have been rising among adults younger than 50. Research published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that the proportion of cases in people younger than 55 “increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019.”
The undeniable cancer incidences have pushed for colorectal screenings to be lowered from 50 to 45, and Dr. Ng is glad the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force finally did. However, people at higher risk of cancer, including those with a family history of the disease, should talk with their doctor about screening sooner.
Criscilla’s Cancer Journey
Criscilla has been open about her stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis, which came in 2018. Stage 4 colon cancer means the cancer has spread beyond the colon and onto other parts of the body.
She underwent years of treatment, including chemotherapy, which helped shrink her tumors. She had a brief moment of reprieve in late 2021 when her scans found no evidence of disease. However, a few months later, in early 2022, Criscilla’s cancer had returned to her lymph nodes.
She’s still managing her disease with the added support of her country music singer husband, Coffey Anderson.
Expert Resources on Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal Cancer Isn’t the Only Cancer Type Seeing an Increase
Although colorectal and gastrointestinal cancers such as liver and pancreatic cancer saw the highest increase in diagnoses among young people, breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer diagnoses have also been on the rise, Dr. Ng says.
A study published in JAMA Network Open last year highlighted this trend.
Researchers evaluated more than 562,000 people from diverse backgrounds in the study between 2010 and 2019 in the United States. They sought to learn the patterns in cancer incidence in people younger than 50. They found that the early onset of cancer among this group rose by 1 percent. Participants between the ages of 30 and 39 saw cases increase by about 19 percent.
The types of cancer that saw increases include breast cancer, which had the highest number of incident cases. Other cancers, including thyroid and gastrointestinal cancers, also saw increases. Colon and rectal cancers saw the starkest increase by roughly 15 percent.
Researchers said the increase in cancer rates among younger people is likely associated with increased “obesity as well as changes in environmental exposures, such as smoke and gasoline, sleep patterns, physical activity, microbiota (microorganisms living in a particular environment) and carcinogenic compounds (chemical compounds that cause cancer in people).”
The study also found people of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic descent saw a higher incidence of early-onset cancer. The incidence rate for cancer among people younger than 50 remained stable for white people and declined for people of African descent.
Interestingly, the researchers found that the incidence rate of cancers among people older than 50 saw a decrease in diagnoses.
Screening for Colon Cancer?
A colonoscopy is a procedure doctors use to screen for colon cancer by looking inside your colon.
This procedure requires your colon to be “cleaned out.” To clear out your colon, your doctor will prescribe a “bowel prep,” which is a liquid you drink the night before the procedure. The prep acts as a laxative that causes you to have multiple loose stools before your procedure.
Once your colon is cleared out, the gastroenterologist performing the procedure can have a clear look to evaluate if any polyps or masses are present.
Depending on the size and number of polyps found, it is recommended that patients undergo a repeat colonoscopy within three to five years.
WATCH: Understanding a colonoscopy
Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously explained the colonoscopy procedure to SurvivorNet.
“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” he explained.
“What does that mean? That means we basically put a wire through with a little bit of a little flange at the end and we pull the polyp out. Now, note there is no pain with that. Inside the colon, there are no pain fibers. So there’s no pain,” Dr. Murrell added.
The advantage of a colonoscopy is that your doctor can remove any polyps found during the test. Many colon cancers can be caught on colonoscopy before they develop or when the polyps are small enough to be removed without surgery.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you are facing a colon cancer diagnosis, here are some questions you may ask your doctor.
- What are my treatment options based on my diagnosis?
- If I’m worried about managing the costs of cancer care, who can help me?
- What support services are available to me? To my family?
- Could this treatment affect my sex life? If so, how and for how long?
- What are the risks and possible side effects of treatment?
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