Published May 24, 2021

Baltimore Orioles Star Trey Mancini, 29, Makes Miraculous Comeback After Beating Colon Cancer; Leads MLB with 41 RBIs

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Mancini's Miraculous Comeback

Baltimore Orioles star Trey Mancini leads Major League Baseball with 41 runs batted in.
Mancini returned to the Orioles after being treated for Stage 3 colon cancer last year.
Colon cancer diagnoses among people in their 20s and 30s have been increasing. New guidance recommends screening for people at average risk begin at 45.

Though the 2021 Major League Baseball season is only two months old, there is already a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year: Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles. He is currently leading the majors in runs batted in (RBIs) with 41 and he's first on his team in home runs (10), feats that even the most hopeful fans, teammates and family members might have thought impossible a year ago.

In March 2020, at age 27, Mancini arrived at spring training in Sarasota, having just signed a big contract after having his best season with the team. Spring training is usually a time of optimism for the season ahead, and the focus is usually all about baseball. But Mancini was getting fatigued easily and routine blood work as part of the teams' physical showed low iron levels. Another blood test showed his iron levels had dropped even further. Suspecting celiac disease or perhaps an ulcer, team doctors performed an endoscopy and a colonoscopy.

Related: Baltimore Orioles Outfielder Trey Mancini Grateful To His Team After Colon Cancer Diagnosis

When he awakened from the colonoscopy, his doctor informed him that he had a malignant tumor in his colon. Six days later it was removed. A week after that, he had his 28th birthday. And one month almost to the day after the Oriole first baseman and fan favorite was diagnosed, he began chemotherapy to treat stage III colon cancer.

He sat out last season to undergo treatment, unsure whether a comeback attempt would even be possible. "There were times early on when I wasn't entirely sure I'd be playing baseball again," Mancini told MLB.com. "I’d be lying if I’d say that was the first thing that came to mind. The whole time I just wanted to be healthy long-term and live a long life. And baseball definitely was on the back burner when I was going through all that."

But the Orioles never gave up on their star. Players, coaches and front office executives reached out to Mancini, offering encouragement from the earliest days after his diagnosis and throughout his treatment and comeback. Even Orioles' legend Brooks Robinson called Mancini in the hospital to tell him he was thinking about him. And then there were the fans, who sent cards, held up signs of support at Baltimore's home stadium, Camden Yards, and flooded social media with well wishes. Through the sale of "F16HT" T-shirts, celebrating Mancini's #16 jersey number and his fighting spirit, more than $80,000 for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance was raised last fall.

"It meant the world to me, the support I got from my teammates, and all the fans here," Mancini told MLB.com. "The fans in Baltimore have always been so amazing at rallying behind their players. It didn’t surprise me in the slightest bit, the support I got. It meant so much and really helped me get through and get really excited to get back to playing baseball."

And as the 2021 season began with Mancini back in the starting lineup, another Oriole legend was rooting especially hard for the young man from Winter Haven, Florida. Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken, himself a prostate cancer survivor, told SurvivorNet in April, "The fight against cancer is so challenging and so private. Trey had to go through his fight with colon cancer in public and he handled it magnificently. He utilized the platform to raise awareness about the disease and opened many eyes to the fact that cancer knows no age and can reach anyone so seeing your doctor and maintaining good health practices is so important throughout our lives. Trey has always been a thoughtful guy and a terrific ballplayer. It is wonderful to see him back on the field."

Age, Family and Colon Cancer

Patients under the age of 50 represent only 12 percent of all colon cancer cases, according to the American Cancer Society. And those in their mid- to late-20s, like Mancini, account for less than 1 percent of colon cancer cases. However, Mancini had a higher risk of the disease, because his father was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer when he was 58. Having a first-degree relative with colon cancer doubles your risk, and the younger that relative is at the time of diagnosis, the greater the risk.

Colon cancer has been increasing in younger individuals. Recently changed guidelines for colon cancer screening suggest a first-time colonoscopy at age 45. And though health experts aren't clear exactly why there’s an uptick in people being diagnosed at younger ages, Phil Daschner, program director for NCI's Division of Cancer Biology suggests that colon cancer risk factors such as obesity, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle may be at least partly to blame.

Colon Cancer Introduction to Prevention and Screening

Aside from the age-related concerns about early screening, colon cancer is an illness that can progress without noticeable symptoms in many cases. "Many patients who develop colon cancer are asymptomatic, especially those patients with early stage disease," according to colorectal surgeon and surgical oncologist Dr. Heather Yeo, with Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork Presbyterian, and a medical advisor to SurvivorNet.

In Mancini's case, fatigue was his only noticeable symptom. And while that is a common sign of the disease, other symptoms, including unexplained weight loss, blood in the stool, and changes in bowel habits should prompt a doctor appointment soon. If you don't have symptoms, but have an elevated risk for colon cancer, there are other screenings that may be appropriate prior to a colonoscopy. These include immunochemical fecal tests, high-sensitivity blood tests, CT colonography and a flexible sigmoidoscopy.

If caught early, colon cancer can be successfully treated in most cases. The five-year survival rate for localized colon cancer is about 90 percent. And while chemotherapy can make for some very difficult days, the prospects of a full recovery and an example like the Orioles' slugger can be quite motivating. Mancini's chemotherapy that followed surgery to remove the tumor lasted from April through November 2020. He has since been declared cancer free.

And these days, when not knocking in runs for the Orioles, Mancini is also urging fans and anyone else who will listen to make their health a priority and not put off simple things like an annual physical. "I'm lucky enough to have a platform that I feel allows me to make a difference for some people even if it's just spreading awareness about the importance of getting a physical every year," he wrote on the sports blog theplayerstribune.com.

As part of that effort, he last year launched the Trey Mancini Foundation to help children and families in the Baltimore area suffering from medical, emotional or financial hardship. At the top of the list of target groups the foundation aims to help are cancer patients. "I was always pretty passionate, but if I needed any more help putting things in perspective, this year certainly did it, to say the least," Mancini told MLB.com. "Obviously, that really helped me appreciate what I have and what I can do to help others."

Looking For Polyps During a Colonscopy

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

James Roland has been a health journalist since 2007, not long after his father passed away of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Read More

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