Chadwick Boseman's Death Is Hard to Process
- Hart reveals that he had a friendship as well as a working relationship with Boseman: “We were about to do a movie together.”
- His mother, Nancy Hart, died of ovarian cancer in 2007 at age 56.
- Boseman was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016, at 39, six years before the recommended screening age of 45
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Hart’s recent pandemic enterprise, “Celebrity Game Face,” which he hosts with his wife, Eniko, has included Terry and Rebecca Crews, who recently overcame breast cancer, competing to win money for charities. New episodes on “E!” will feature Kelly and Jack Osbourne.
Why Are Young People Getting Colon Cancer?
The American Cancer Society guidelines for colon cancer recommend that average-risk adults begin getting colonoscopies at age 45. But those with a family history of colon cancer may be advised to start screening ten years earlier than that.
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For those who are given clear scans, they should go back for additional colonoscopies once every 10 years. With regular screening, colon cancer is preventable.
Dr. Heather Yeo, Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, says colon cancer in younger people is on the rise.
However, even with these nation-wide screening recommendations, the rate at which younger adults are being diagnosed with colon cancer has been going up.
“It’s a different type of cancer,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian tells SurvivorNet. While colon cancer among people under 50 is becoming more common, the reason is hard to pin down, Dr. Yeo notes. But these cancers tend to have some unique characteristics.
“The colon cancers that are in the younger age group are more likely to be on the left side, they’re more likely to be rectal cancers,” Dr. Yeo says.”They are more likely to be kind of aggressive tumor types.”
“You shouldn’t die from embarrassment,” is the message from Dr. Zuri Murrell, Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, who says people avoid often avoid colon cancer screenings out of anxiety or discomfort.
“We are seeing patients as young as age 19 come into the clinic,” says Dr. Kimmie Ng, Co-Director, Colon and Rectal Cancer Center and Director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “And there is no genetic syndrome involved, so it's very frightening.”
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Researchers note distinct molecular differences among tumors in younger patients. “It may be something environmental,” Dr. Yeo explains. “There are some different risk factors for these early colon cancers.”
Be Aware of Symptoms
For people under the age of 45 the need to undergo colon cancer screening varies. Those with a family history of the disease may be considered high-risk and need to start colonoscopy screening earlier. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, talk to your doctor about screening:
- Change in bowel habits
- Change in the color of stool
- Abdominal pain
- Unintended weight loss
- Anemia
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