Raising Awareness About Colon Cancer, a Disease Increasingly Affecting Younger Adults

In August 2020, the world was shocked to learn celebrated actor Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the powerful title character in Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” died after a private, yearslong battle with colon cancer. While many were surprised by the news of Boseman’s death at 43, studies show the actor’s 2016 diagnosis and death four years later matched recent statistics: colorectal cancer is affecting younger adults and Black Americans at alarming rates.

With statistics showing African Americans and young adults particularly affected by colorectal cancer, physicians are using March — Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month — to emphasize the importance of preventative measures and screenings to combat fatal outcomes from the disease.

According to the American Cancer Society, there are an estimated 106,590 new cases of colon cancer (52,380 in women and 54,210 in men) and 46,220 new diagnoses of rectal cancer (18,890 women and 27,330 in men) recorded in 2024.  

Moreover, African Americans run greater risk in developing the disease.  Studies reveal Black people are 20% more likely to get colorectal cancer, and 40% more likely to die from the illness. 

Further, while diagnosis rates have gradually decreased for older individuals, experts are seeing increasing rates of colon cancer diagnosis in people under 55. Millennials are found to have twice the risk of colorectal cancer compared to people born in the 1950s.

“The rate of being diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer each year has dropped overall since the mid-1980s, mainly because more people are getting screened and changing their lifestyle-related risk factors.  From 2011 to 2019, incidence rates dropped by about 1% each year.  But this downward trend is mostly in older adults. In people younger than 55 years of age, rates have been increasing by 1% to 2% a year since the mid-1990s,” according to the American Cancer Society.

Currently, the American Cancer Society has reportedly invested $64 million in colorectal cancer research, supporting work to lower colorectal cancer risks, investigate new treatments, and promote positive ways to live a quality life after receiving a colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Risks and Warning Signs of Colon Cancer

The colon, which runs about 5 feet long and divides into five major segments, plays a critical role in the body’s digestive system, processing waste and matter left from the food and nutrients broken down by the stomach and small intestine.  Its primary task is to remove salts and water from this matter, and further transform it into solid waste for the body to discharge.  

Cancer can develop in any of these five segments, underscoring the importance of colonoscopy screenings.

The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer averages about one in 23 for men and one in 25 for women, while expected to cause an estimated 53,010 deaths over 2024.  But despite the numbers, a person’s chances for developing the aggressive disease largely depend on their personal risk factors.

While researchers are still working to provide concrete reasons behind rising rates of colorectal cancer cases in younger adults, a number of dietary and lifestyle factors promote greater risk for developing the disease. Younger patients are also found to have more cases of rectal cancer compared to colon cancer — both closely related organs within the digestive system.

Research shows that an overwhelming amount of colorectal cancers are typically associated with obesity, type II diabetes, frequent antibiotic use, and physical inactivity. Further, environmental exposures including microplastics, alcohol consumption, low-fiber and high-fat diet, and tobacco use for years (often decades before a patient’s diagnosis) lead as major contributors to the slow-developing illness.  

Physicians have found key warning signs and symptoms prevalent in people under 50 who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, seeing blood with bowel motions, and iron deficiency anemia are alarming signs that could indicate the presence of the disease.

The Importance of Screening

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults age 45 to 75 be screened for colorectal cancer.  

However, those who are at an increased risk of developing the disease, including people with a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps, inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis), should receive a doctor’s opinion on when to begin screening, how often to get tested, and which test is appropriate for them.

The variation of methods used to screen for colorectal cancer includes a stool test. Options include: guaiac-based fecal occult blood test, fecal immunochemical test (FIT), or FIT-DNA test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy).  

Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Dr. Derek Ebner emphasizes the importance of adopting healthy lifestyle habits to reduce risks of colorectal cancer to the best of one’s ability.
“Abiding by a healthy lifestyle is critical.  Following a well-rounded diet, staying physically active, for instance, perhaps can be protective,” Ebner said in a Mayo Clinic News Network report published by Detroit News. “The other key, though, is just being very mindful of those symptoms, and then also underscoring the importance of screening.”