A mother of two diagnosed with colorectal cancer twice before the age of 50 suffered from subtle symptoms such as back pain, weight loss and gas, which doctors accused her of being ‘oversensitive’ to.
Sherri Rollins, now approaching 50, from North Carolina, suffered from back pain in 2017. Although scans showed a lesion in her liver, a gastroenterologist told her it was nothing to worry about.
However, when she went to another doctor for an MRI a few months later, she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, which has exploded into an epidemic among young Americans.
It was the same disease that took her father’s life in his early fifties.
Sherri Rollins, a mother of two from North Carolina, had colorectal cancer twice before she turned 50. She had subtle symptoms, including back pain, weight loss and gas.
Ms. Rollins had tumors in her liver, rectum and pelvic floor. She underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. She now encourages others to speak up if they feel something is wrong
“I didn’t believe it would happen to me like this,” Ms. Rollins said TODAY.com. ‘I was a healthy person and had always had check-ups.’
The cancer had spread to her liver, but despite the grim diagnosis, she “never felt doomed.” Ms Rollins underwent chemotherapy treatment for about a year before undergoing surgery.
She was in remission for four years before she started experiencing symptoms again. She unintentionally lost weight and had painful gas. “When I went to the bathroom, I felt like I wasn’t done yet,” she said.
Up until that point, Ms Rollins’ regular scans had shown up clearly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Her oncologist told her, “I can assure you that you do not have cancer. You’re oversensitive.’
However, in March 2022, doctors discovered a tumor in her rectum that had spread to her pelvic floor. “I felt abandoned,” she said.
The rate of colorectal cancer is increasing worldwide, especially among young people like Ms. Rollins.
U.S. under-50 rates are expected to double by 2030, and colorectal cancer is also expected to become the leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans under 50 by the end of this decade.
This is based on data from JAMA operationThis study found that colon cancer will increase by 90 percent between 2010 and 2030 in people aged 20 to 34. Rectal cancer will have increased by 124 percent in the same age group.
Cancers of the colon and rectum are the third most common type in the US and the third leading cause of death in both men and women.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that approximately 153,000 cases of colorectal cancer will be discovered this year, including 19,500 among those under 50 years of age.
About 52,550 people are expected to die from the disease.
Data from JAMA Surgery shows colon cancer is expected to increase by 90 percent in people ages 20 to 34
The same data shows that rectal cancer will increase by 124 percent in the youngest age group
Experts are still working to unravel the cause of this devastating epidemic.
They often blame unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption and a sedentary lifestyle for this shift.
A study from the Cleveland Clinic suggested that eating red meat and sugar could lead to a greater chance of young people developing colorectal cancer.
However, some studies indicate otherwise.
A 2021 studyFor example, research found that patients with early cancer were less likely to be obese or smoke than their older counterparts.
a study published in April examined how being born by cesarean section affected the risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer. The researchers found that women born by caesarean section were more likely to develop colorectal cancer in their lives than women born vaginally. There was no association between men.
Furthermore, antibiotic use has been shown to influence this risk. A study in the journal Gut found that long-term antibiotic use increased the risk of premature colon cancer. However, it was also associated with a lower risk of rectal cancer.
And one study showed that the fungus Cladosporium sp. was more common in the tumors of young patients than in older individuals.
It is still unclear how Cladosporium sp. could lead to this increase in cases, but the researchers think it could damage cell DNA. This could turn them into cancer cells.
These environmental factors have a lasting impact on the gut microbiome, which experts believe may increase the risk of colorectal cancer, even if exposure is limited to early life.
Part of what makes colorectal cancer difficult to diagnose is its symptoms, which can often be attributed to other conditions. This leads to symptoms being ignored or misdiagnosed.
However, some symptoms are more noticeable than others.
From a study that appeared earlier this year in The New York Times magazine Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that the most commonly reported symptoms were abdominal pain, blood in the stool, diarrhea, and iron deficiency anemia.
Furthermore, a 2020 study shows Colorectal Cancer Alliance68 percent of participants said they had blood in their stool. The average age of the participants was 42 years.
The same study also found that many patients with colorectal cancer symptoms were initially misdiagnosed or rejected.
If you go a long time without a diagnosis, colorectal cancer can progress to a later stage, making it more difficult to treat.
Ms. Rollins underwent intraoperative radiation, a radiation treatment performed during surgery. The goal is to deliver higher doses of radiation while avoiding hitting nearby organs.
She also had an ileostomy for three months, an opening in the abdomen where a piece of the ileum, the lower part of the small intestine, is brought outside the abdominal wall to create a stoma. Digested food then passes through the stoma to an external pouch instead of through the rectum and anus.
Ms. Rollins still has some lingering effects from the treatment, such as nerve damage in her hands. She now encourages others to speak up if they feel something is wrong.
“Being affected by this disease and the struggle to save myself, I am so grateful,” she said.
“I hope that even if one person advocates for more treatment options and saves them, that’s why I speak out. Being your own advocate does not mean being a dissatisfied patient.”