Colorectal cancer diagnoses jump 50% among young Americans due to projections

Cancer screening advice would have increased diagnostics among American young people.

According to two studies by the American Cancer Society (ACS), there has been a recent increase in colorectal cancer in people aged 45 to 49.

ACS scientists have found that after 15 years of stable trends in colorectal cancer (CRC), American diagnostics of the local stage disease have skyrocketed in this age group from 2019 to 2022 – including a relative increase from 50% from 2021 to 2022.

Prostate cancer screening after 70: experts question the guidelines after the diagnosis of Biden

“This is a promising news, because the increase in cases is probably due to the first screening following new recommendations for younger adults and at medium risks begin to test the colorectal cancer earlier,” said Elizabeth Schafer, associated scientist and cancer researcher at ACS, said a press release.

In 2018, ACS lowered the recommended age for CRC screenings from 50 to 45 years old. The USPSTF Preventive Services Working Group (USPSTF) applied the same directives in 2021.

There was a relative increase of 50% of colorectal cancer diagnoses in people aged 45 to 49 from 2021 to 2022, researchers revealed. (istock)

In the first study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the researchers analyzed CRC diagnoses from 2004 to 2022 in adults aged 20 to 54, sorted by age, location and diagnosis.

The “western diet” blamed for an increasing risk of gastrointestinal cancer in young adults

Diagnostics have increased by 1.6% each year since 2004 in the age group of 20 to 39 and more than 2% per year since 2012 among 40 to 44 and 50 to 54 years.

An annual increase of 1.1% of people aged 45 to 49 accelerated at 12% per year from 2019 to 2022.

Individuals at the end of the forties had a 19% increase in the detection of colon cancer at the local stadium each year from 2019 to 2022. (istock)

The ACS confirmed that the increase was driven by the detection of local stadium tumors, which increased by almost 19% each year for colon cancer and more than 25% for rectum cancer within this period.

Before this period, colon cancer detection rates had been stable and rectal cancer detection rates had decreased.

Rare cancer diagnoses are considerably increased among millennials and generation X

The advanced stage of the stage also continues to increase sharply, reported ACS, going from 1.7% to 2.9% per year since 2004 in adults under the age of 45 and “even faster” in the past 10 years in the 45 to 54 year olds.

These results led to another ACS study, also published in Jama, which revealed that CRC screening in American adults between 45 and 49 increased from 62% from 2019 to 2023.

Scientists have analyzed data of more than 50,000 people to compare screening changes. They found that CRC screening, which was 20% in 2021, had jumped at 37% in 2023.

Among the 45 to 49 year olds, colonoscopy screening increased by 43% and stool -based tests increased by more than five times from 2019 to 2023.

Click here to obtain the Fox News app

The main author Jessica Star, Associate Scientist of ACS in Atlanta, considers that he “fascinating” to see this increase in screening for younger people because it is probably linked to diagnoses of anterior stadium.

“However, we still have a long way to go,” she said in the statement. “Colorectal cancer screening in 45 to 49 year olds remains a sub-optimal and has not increased fairly by both the level of education and the insurance status.”

The study results support efforts for all 45 to 49 age groups to have access to screening. (istock)

Paul E. Oberstein, MD, medical oncologist and deputy director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center of the Nyu Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, said that the increase in screening “managed to detect more cancers at an early stage where the risk of healing is very high”.

Click here to register for our Health Newsletter

“This should ultimately mean that fewer people are diagnosed later in life and fewer people have advanced colon cancer,” Fox News Digital told Fox.

“This study strengthens the need to concentrate research on understanding the causes of colon cancer increases – and possible steps to reduce these cases.”

People of all ages should contact a doctor if symptoms of colorectal cancer occur, said an oncologist. (istock)

The rate of colon cancer in those under the age of 45 remains “considerably lower”, he noted, “it is therefore not yet clear if universal screening at a younger age is beneficial”.

Some specific patients who are under 45 can benefit from previous screening, such as those with family history or personal risk factors, the oncologist added.

The exercise program reduces recurrence of common cancer and stimulates survival

While colon cancer continues to increase in younger people, Oberstein recommends contacting a doctor if symptoms concerning are noticed.

Dr. Craig Eagle, head doctor of Guardant Health in California, added that early detection is “crucial”, noting that the five-year survival rate for CRC is greater than 90% when the disease is captured at early stages.

For more health items, visit www.foxnews.com/health

“(This) falls to 13% late when the symptoms generally appear,” said Eagle, which was also not involved in research, at Fox News Digital.

“The increase in diagnoses of those of the quarantine is an alarming reminder that screening must be easier and more accessible to reach 50 million Americans who remain not exceeded.”