Alarming Rise in Colorectal Cancer Strikes the Population Under 50 Years of Age

In a study published by the American Cancer Society in March, researchers estimated that in 2023, 153,000 people in the United States would be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Of those cases, about 13 percent would be among people under 50 — representing a 9 percent increase in cases in this age group since 2020.

While new colorectal cancer diagnoses have been declining among people over 50 since their peak in 1985, the trends for younger people are going in the wrong direction, said Dr. Steven Itzkowitz, a professor of medicine and oncological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. And not only that, the authors of the new study reported, but the cancers diagnosed in people under 50 are tending to be more aggressive.

“We’re living in a time when young people in their prime of life are getting colon cancers,” Dr. Itzkowitz said. “And unless we really talk about it, we may not have the opportunity to make as big a dent in this disease as we can.”

Should I be worried if I’m under 45? What are the early signs of colorectal cancer?

First off, said Dr. Nancy Baxter, a colorectal surgeon and head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, the increasing rates of early-onset colorectal cancer are concerning, but the overall risk of someone under 50 developing colon cancer is still incredibly slim.