Her son, Jackson Jordan, then 27, had been hiding symptoms since fall 2025, which included blood in his stool and changes in his bowel habits, out of fear of what a doctor might tell him.

He hoped it would resolve on its own, but after nearly fainting during a walk, his sister called their mother. Charrisse urged him to see the family doctor, where bloodwork revealed dangerously low hemoglobin. He required a blood transfusion and several days in the hospital.

A follow‑up colonoscopy confirmed a tumor, leading to a colon cancer diagnosis.

“Colonoscopy is a procedure where you have your entire gut cleaned out, so empty. Then they use a scope, a colonoscope, to look at the intestine with, basically, a magnifying glass,” Dr. Heather Yeo tells SurvivorNet.

Dr. Yeo is a medical advisor to SurvivorNet and an Associate Professor of Surgery and Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College and assistant attending surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

“So they go through your colon and look at every little inch of your colon, looking for precursors to cancer or polyps,” Dr. Yeo adds.

WATCH: Getting Cleaned Out for a Colonoscopy

“I was numb. It didn’t seem real. I had a pit in my stomach that wouldn’t go away for weeks,” Charrisse said.

After treatment, Jordan reached remission when his scans came back clear in September 2026.

“Colorectal cancer and other cancers are affecting younger people more and more. No one is off‑limits,” Charrisse wrote on Instagram. “As parents, we must be vigilant, encourage routine doctor visits, and NEVER ignore unusual changes in our children’s bodies.”

She added that she is “especially grateful for early detection, diligent doctors who took extra steps to investigate, and following our instincts.”

Colon Cancer Is Treatable and Curable When Caught Early

Colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early. Colon cancer screenings can involve at-home tests such as Cologuard, but a colonoscopy is more effective, according to SurvivorNet experts.

The cancer starts when abnormal lumps called polyps grow in the colon or rectum. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.

When you have a colonoscopy, the gastroenterologist looks for polyps inside your intestine. Although polyps can’t be felt, they can be picked up by screening tests before they cause a problem, such as colon or rectal (colorectal) cancer.

A polyp found during a colonoscopy can be removed, which can prevent the development of cancer. Almost all polyps that are removed are precancerous, meaning that they have not yet progressed to cancer.

WATCH: Does Alcohol Impact the Risks for Colon and Other Cancers?

The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for colorectal screening from 50 to 45. However, experts recommend screening earlier for some people who may be at an increased risk of developing colon cancer, such as those with a family history of the disease.

WATCH: Debunking misconceptions about colon cancer.

The most poignant sign of colon cancer is a change in bowel habits. Changes in the size or shape of bowel movements may cause constipation or diarrhea. A change in stool color, particularly black or tarry stools, can indicate bleeding from a tumor deep in the colon.

Other symptoms can be harder to pinpoint, such as abdominal pain and unintentional weight loss. Finally, some tumors bleed a small amount over a long period of time, resulting in anemia (low red blood cell count) that is picked up on blood work.

A Colonoscopy Explained

A colonoscopy is a screening test that allows doctors to examine the inside of the colon for signs of cancer or other abnormalities.

To prepare, the colon must be completely emptied. Your doctor will prescribe a bowel prep—a liquid solution taken the night before—that works as a strong laxative and triggers multiple loose stools to clear the colon.

With the colon clean, the gastroenterologist can carefully inspect the lining and remove or evaluate any polyps or suspicious areas.
Follow‑up timing depends on what’s found. If polyps are present, especially larger or multiple ones, doctors typically recommend repeating the colonoscopy in three to five years.

WATCH: What Doctors Look for During Colonoscopies

What Treatment Options Exist for Colon Cancer?

“There are a lot of advances being made in colorectal cancer,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, previously told SurvivorNet.

Colon cancer treatment is more targeted, meaning doctors often test for specific changes or genetic mutations that cause cancer growth.

Biomarkers are key to tailoring specific treatments. Biomarkers are molecular patterns becoming more commonly used in colon cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and management. According to the National Cancer Institute, a biomarker is “a biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or a condition or disease,” such as cancer.

“In colon cancer, we’re starting to look more and more at people’s biomarkers, so we’re starting to take the cancers, sequence them, understand where the different mutations are to figure out whether or not someone has a normal gene here or an abnormal gene,” Dr. Yeo explained.

“Those are the areas that people want to be able to target a little bit more. We’re getting close to more of what we would call precision medicine, meaning we can start looking at people’s genetic mutations and think about how they might respond to different drugs.”

There are different types of biomarkers, including DNA, proteins, and genetic mutations found in blood, tumor tissue, or other body fluids. The biomarkers most commonly used in colon cancer management are:

• Genetic mutations within the tumor, such as MMR/MSI, KRAS, BRAF, and HER2
• Bloodstream carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)

CEA is a protein produced by most tumor cells (but not all) and can be picked up in the bloodstream. High CEA levels do not establish a colon cancer diagnosis. However, higher CEA levels correlate with a worse prognosis and potential metastasis. Carcinoembryonic antigen is important for post-treatment follow-up to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned. Be sure to check with your doctor before treatment starts to ensure a CEA blood sample has been obtained.

More on Treating Colon Cancer

Surgery and chemotherapy are common approaches to colorectal cancer.

Some examples of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved chemotherapy drug treatments include:

• FOLFOX: leucovorin, 5-FU, and oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
• FOLFIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, and irinotecan (Camptosar)
• CAPEOX or CAPOX: capecitabine (Xeloda) and oxaliplatin
• FOLFOXIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan
• Trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf)

WATCH: Understanding Your Options with Metastatic Colon Cancer

Among metastatic colon cancer patients, multiple treatment options exist, including surgical and non-surgical options.

One treatment option includes an oral treatment called Fruquintinib, which is a targeted therapy for adults with metastatic colorectal cancer who have tried other treatments. Results from a trial published last year showed the drug improved overall survival and progression-free survival, which measures the amount of time before the cancer returns or spreads. It works by blocking the growth of blood vessels, which increases tumor growth.

Once you get to the metastatic setting, many patients “just run out of options,” Jennifer Elliott, head of solid tumors at Takeda, explained to SurvivorNet at the ASCO Annual Meeting. So it was critically important for Takeda to do this deal to in-license fruquintinib. We hope to give patients another option.”

Fruquintinib has been approved in China since 2018 and was originally developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company HUTCHMED. In January 2023, Takeda Oncology acquired the exclusive worldwide license for the drug outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

A Growing Cohort of Younger Cancer Patients

“At the beginning of my career, there were really no patients under the age of 50,” Dr. John Marshall, director of the Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers at Georgetown University and Chief Medical Consultant at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, told SurvivorNet.

“Now approximately half of my patients are under the age of 50.”

While colorectal cancer remains most common in people over 55, cases in younger adults have risen by 2.4% each year from 2012 to 2021, according to the American Cancer Society.

This surge prompted updated screening guidelines: average‑risk adults should now begin screening at 45 instead of 50, with earlier testing recommended for those with symptoms or a family history.

This change was recommended by advocacy organizations in 2018 and officially supported by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2021.

The new recommendation led to more people getting screened earlier. Since 2018, there has been a 17% increase in colorectal cancer cases for people between the ages of 45 and 49, directly related to the new screening guideline.

WATCH: Deciding When to Operate on Colon Cancer

Researchers are still working to understand what’s driving the rise in younger patients.

Dr. Marshall believes the answer may lie in the gut microbiome — the community of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms in the digestive tract. Potential influences include diet, microplastics, and antibiotic exposure, but more research is needed to pinpoint the cause.

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?

[fast facts]

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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