A new study has revealed a sharp rise in young people developing colon cancer, offering potential insights as to why that might be.
According to ongoing research, which is being conducted by Tim Cannon, a cancer doctor in Virginia, people in their 20s and 30s are seeing the biggest increase in diagnoses of colon, or colorectal, cancer.
Cannon had spent years treating cancer patients when he started to notice his patients getting younger and the cancer more aggressive.
Picking up on the trend, he decided to examine 100 more long-distance runners aged 35 to 50. There, he discovered that hefty 39 had developed precancerous tumors in their colons.
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For 15 of those, the cancer was advanced, a figure far higher than the expected 1.2 percent, and one that put a whopping sixth of those in the study at risk of developing colon cancer.
Other experts have noticed the trend, too.
Dr. Kimmie Ng, director of Dana-Farber's Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center, told Business Insider: "The steepest rise is in people in their 20s and 30s. They're younger, they're healthier, they don't have comorbidities, they get more treatment — and yet they're not living longer."
The reason for this rise is widely disputed, but scientific theories range from microplastics to antibiotics to aspects of modern life, such as high sugar consumption and blue light from phones, which can disrupt our natural rhythms.
More recently, research has suggested that things happening in people's very early lives, including the first few months of life, could be determining the higher rates of colon cancer in younger people.
How common is colon cancer?
Colon cancer, sometimes known as colorectal cancer, is a cancer that starts in the colon, the large bowel, which is part of the digestive system. It is the third most common type of cancer across the world and accounts for around 10 percent of all cases.
Colon cancer is also the second leading cause of death caused by the illness. Previously, it was largely associated with people over 50, but more doctors have recently started seeing cases creeping up among those aged 20 to 30.
Sadly, it is often only in its advanced stages that colon cancer is diagnosed, by which point, treatment options are limited.
The survival rate for colorectal cancer drops to 10 percent once it spreads.
What are the symptoms of colon cancer?
Diagnosing colon cancer is difficult in its early stages, largely because it does not exhibit many symptoms.
Because treatment options dwindle the further along the disease gets, it is important that people are screened early to try to increase the chances of successful treatment.
Symptoms of colon cancer include changes in bowel habits such as diarrhoea, constipation, or narrowing of the stool, as well as blood in the stool, typically of a bright red or dark, tar-like color.
Abdominal cramps, as well as pain or bloating that won’t go away, can also be an indication of colon cancer.
Symptoms also include sudden and unexplained weight loss that happens even though the individual is not trying. Feeling constantly fatigued and lacking in energy, despite sufficient rest, can also be a symptom.
Another symptom is iron deficiency anaemia, which is the result of chronic bleeding. This can cause fatigue, weakness and paleness.
How could the early years of life have an impact on colon cancer?
Recent scientific research has pointed towards a range of factors potentially being the cause of higher colon cancer in younger patients.
Ludmil Alexandrov, a molecular biologist at UC San Diego, recently identified a mutation in more than half of colorectal tumors found in patients under 40. It appeared to be caused by colibactin, a toxin produced by a specific strain of E. coli, which occurred in babies before their ninth month of life.
The research suggested that even infants can be hit with mutations that affect their chances of developing cancer, despite previous research suggesting it was more likely caused by mutations occurring in adults.
"You get your first hit at age 1 instead of age 30. So you are about 20 to 30 years ahead of schedule for cancer," Alexandrov said.
Should his research be confirmed by larger bodies of research, it could be a strong indicator of how early-onset cancer is rising in younger people.
If the mutation occurs in early life, it only makes sense that the cancer develops in a person's 20s or 30s following a long incubation period.
The rise in colibactin infections in babies could be caused by changes to diet, such as consuming more ultra-processed food and fewer fiber-rich ingredients, the expert suggested.
Other research also suggests that modern birthing methods, such as C-sections, may cause early-life microbial disruption.
Feeding babies formula rather than breast milk could also affect babies' early immune systems, often because it is higher in sugar.
Topics: Colon cancer, Cancer, Health
Alice Wade