At long last, a bit of bright news emerges from the bleak subject of early-onset colorectal cancer.
A recent report published in JAMA Oncology found that people diagnosed with early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) was associated with improved survival when compared with people who are diagnosed at aged 55 and above — average-age colorectal cancer (AOCRC).
In the US, the number of people under 55 being diagnosed has nearly doubled over the past decade, and more people are dying from the disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
Once thought of as a disease that strikes later in life, colorectal cancer is on the rise among young people with a persistently grim prognosis.
Younger patients are often diagnosed at advanced stages because their symptoms are overlooked or mistaken for less serious health concerns.
However, the recent JAMA Oncology report, which analyzed 100,000 colorectal cancer patients, found that those diagnosed before age 50 had improved overall survival compared with their older counterparts.
The good news does come with a caveat: researchers found that treatment delays were independently associated with worse survival rates among patients with EOCRC.
According to the research, those with EOCRC were more likely to be Hispanic, have left-sided or rectal tumors, and present with advanced-stage disease, confirming that treatment delays compromise survival rates and suggesting that a language barrier could be contributing to delays in diagnosis and treatment in this population.
The exact reasons behind the rise in early-onset colorectal cancer remain unclear, but research suggests modern lifestyle factors — such as sedentary habits, obesity, and heavy consumption of processed foods — are contributing to the problem.
According to the ACS, colorectal screening “dramatically improves survival,” as studies show early-stage detection yields a five-year survival rate of more than 90% in the US.
About one in three American adults is eligible for colorectal cancer screening but has not been tested.
Last year, a groundbreaking study posited that colibactin, a toxin produced by certain strains of E. coli, could be behind the recent surge in early-onset colorectal cancer cases.
More recently, research has suggested that early exposure to picloram, a widely used weed killer, could be fueling the alarming rise
Across the country, the ACS estimates more than 158,000 new colorectal cancer cases will be diagnosed in the US this year, and over 55,000 people will die from the disease.
Nearly half of those diagnoses are expected to be in people younger than 65, a sharp shift from the 1990s, when the disease was largely confined to older adults.
To stay ahead of the trend, the ACS recommends starting routine screening at age 45.
In addition to the standard colonoscopy, the ACS now recommends that patients receive a blood-based screening test in a doctor’s office to detect tumor DNA.
The ACS also suggests an at-home screening option that looks for hidden blood and molecular markers in stool samples.
