Early-onset colorectal cancer rates are surging around the world, and Millennials are in the crosshairs.
According to a study published in the British Journal of Surgery, early-onset colorectal cancer, defined as cases diagnosed before age 50, has risen dramatically among both sexes in the US since the mid-1990s.
While colon cancer is traditionally linked to older adults, diagnoses among younger people have skyrocketed in recent years.
Researchers explain that in comparison to adults born in 1950, those born in 1990 are twice as likely to develop colon cancer — and a whopping four times more likely to develop rectal cancer.
And folks, it gets worse.
Partially due to the assumption among care providers and patients that colorectal cancer is a disease for the elderly or middle-aged, young people tend to be diagnosed in the disease’s later stages, making it harder to treat and cure.
Researchers note that younger patients are more likely to receive aggressive treatments and, due to their life stage, are faced with unique challenges in navigating care and survival.
These younger patients, often diagnosed in their peak earning and reproductive years, are more likely to experience financial hardship and difficulty starting or expanding their families.
Early-onset survivors are more likely to experience anxiety, sexual dysfunction, and body image issues than their older counterparts.
These recent findings are in line with a Centers for Disease Control analysis that found a 185% increase in colorectal cancer among people between 20 and 24 and a 333% increase among people between 15 and 19.
Rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, the most common type of gastrointestinal cancer, are also rising in high-income countries beyond the US. An inventory of 20 European countries showed a significant spike in cases of early-onset colorectal cancer from 2004 to 2016.
“The incidence of GI cancers in adults younger than age 50 is rising globally,” said the paper’s lead author, Sara Char. “Ongoing research efforts investigating the biology of early-onset GI cancers are critical to developing more effective screening, prevention, and treatment strategies.”
Due to the rise in younger cases, the US Preventive Services Task Force updated its colorectal cancer screening guidelines in 2021, lowering the recommended age to begin screening from 50 to 45 for adults of average risk.
And we may need to lower it further, as a new study from Taiwan found that initiating colorectal cancer screening at 40 can reduce cases by 21% and deaths by 39% compared to starting screening at 50.
Early-onset colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer-related death for men under 50 and the second-leading cause for women under 50 in the United States.
“It’s been pretty alarming to all of us,” Dr. Coral Olazagasti, an assistant professor of clinical medical oncology at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, previously told The Post.
“In the past, you would think cancer was a disease of the elderly population. But now we’ve been seeing trends in recent years of people getting diagnosed with cancer earlier and earlier.”
Early onset colorectal cancer disproportionately affects Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, and Asian populations, with those of Native American descent reporting the highest rate of colorectal cancer of any racial and ethnic group.
Among that number is Utah-based influencer Tanner Martin, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at 25 and lost his five-year battle with the disease in June.
A National Cancer Institute analysis from 1973 through 2009 revealed that 16.5% of American Indians/Alaska Natives, 15.4% of Hispanics, 12% of Asians/Pacific Islanders, and 11.9% of Black patients were diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 50, compared to only 6.7% of non-Hispanic white patients.
Oncologists have suggested that the concerning rise in early onset diagnoses and deaths could be due to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, the Western diet, excess sugar consumption, and environmental factors such as pollutants in the air, soil, and water.
A 2019 study found that US women with a BMI over 30 had close to double the risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer compared to women with lower BMIs.
More recently, a groundbreaking 2025 study suggested that colibactin, a toxin produced by certain strains of E. coli, may be behind the recent surge in early-onset colorectal cancer cases.
“We believe this exposure occurs very early in life — likely during the first decade — when children are infected,” Dr. Ludmil Alexandrov, senior study author and a professor at the University of California, San Diego, told The Post.
The CDC predicts that by 2030, early-onset colorectal cancer will become the leading cancer-related cause of death for people aged 20 to 49.
