Using Your Voice; Cancer Patient Raising Awareness of Cancer Incidence Among Younger Adults
- A Texas high school teacher trying his luck on the gameshow “Jeopardy” shared that he was battling stage 4 colon cancer and urged young people like him to stay current on their checkups.
- A study published in JAMA Network Open found higher cancer incidents among younger people. While breast cancer saw the highest number of cases, gastrointestinal cancers like colorectal cancers saw the starkest increase.
- Although the average age for a colon cancer diagnosis is 68, a growing number of young people are now faced with the disease.
- Most colon cancers can be prevented if people are regularly screened. Screenings are recommended beginning at age 45. However, if you have a family history of this cancer, your doctor may suggest screening sooner.
- Metastatic or Stage 4 colon cancer means that the cancer has spread from the colon to other organs. The most common sites for colon cancer to metastasize are the liver, lungs, and peritoneum (the lining in your abdomen).
- Chemotherapy is often the first line of treatment for metastatic colon cancer. Surgery or a combination of therapies may be recommended depending on where the cancer is located and how widespread it is.
- A colonoscopy is a procedure doctors use to screen for colon cancer by looking inside your colon. While there are benefits to getting a colonoscopy, including the doctor’s ability to remove precancerous polyps in real time, other screening methods also exist.
A Texas man testing his luck on “Jeopardy,” which was made famous by the late game show host Alex Trebek, who bravely battled pancreatic cancer, has found himself in a similar situation – facing advanced cancer.
Chris Burge, 34, is a high school teacher who walked away from the popular gameshow with $1,600 and an army of supporters after he revealed he is battling stage 4 colon cancer.
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Stage 4 cancers have spread to other organs, such as the liver, lungs, or peritoneal cavity (the space in your abdomen that holds your intestines, stomach, and liver).
Colorectal cancer happens when polyps are not removed and become cancerous. It can take up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become cancerous, according to SurvivorNet experts.
Expert Resources on Colorectal Cancer
- 5 Possible Signs of Colon Cancer; Don’t Be Afraid to Look in the Toilet!
- A Coffee Enema Will Not Prevent Colon Cancer
- Alcohol Intake Has a Big Impact on Colon Cancer Surgery
- Can The Stuff In My Gut Cause Cancer? There May Be a Link to Increased Rates of Colon CancerHere’s What The Experts Say
- ‘You Shouldn’t Die From Embarrassment’: Colon Cancer Can Be Prevented
Coping With Advanced Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early. However, treatment may become more intense when the cancer is detected in later stages.
Chemotherapy is known to improve survival in patients with metastatic or stage 4 colon cancer.
“Colon cancer most commonly spreads to the lung and to the liver,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a board-certified in general surgery, colon and rectal surgery, and complex general surgical oncology, explains to SurvivorNet.
“We try not to do surgery right away. If you think about it, we can’t cut out all of the disease, and any time you do surgery, you’re actually compromising a patient’s immune system,” Dr. Yeo explains.
The most common therapy is called FOLFOX, and your doctor may add medications like irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or cetuximab, depending on how well your tumor shrinks with treatment and other specifics about your particular tumor.
“If you respond really well, then we keep you on that until you stop responding really well. But if after a few cycles, your disease has progressed, that’s when we think about adding other additional chemotherapies,” Dr. Yeo said.
WATCH: Not all stage 4 colon cancer patients are the same.
Colon cancer screenings can involve at-home tests such as Cologuard, but a colonoscopy is more effective, according to SurvivorNet experts. A colonoscopy involves examining the colon and rectum with a long, thin tube attached to a camera.
If no polyps are discovered, the following screening won’t be needed for ten years. Polyps are small growths in the colon that are not yet cancerous but can potentially develop into cancer.
“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, explained.
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.
The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for a 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.
WATCH: Colon cancer symptoms.
The most poignant signature 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.
More on Colon Cancer in Younger Adults
The average age people are diagnosed with colon cancer is 68 for men and 72 for women, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, 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 cases in people younger than 55 “increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019.”
WATCH: Debunking misconceptions about colon cancer.
“We know rates are increasing in young people, but it’s alarming to see how rapidly the whole patient population is shifting younger, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population,” cancer epidemiologist and lead study author Rebecca Siegel said.
Researchers are still trying to determine why younger people are being diagnosed in more significant numbers. Some experts point to risk factors, which include obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking, as a possible explanation for the increase.
“We don’t know for sure why we are seeing earlier onset and death from colon cancer,” Dr. Yeo told SurvivorNet.
“It is likely a combination of factors, including diet and genetics as well as access to care and some environmental factors,” Dr. Yeo added.
WATCH: How Doctors Look for Polyps.
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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