Scientists are urgently launching a study into the rising rates of bowel cancer among young people.
A team of government-funded researchers at top universities in the US and Britain will receive up to $25 million over five years to investigate what’s behind the increase.
Their studies include analyzing stool and cells from patients diagnosed with cancer, as well as examining the link between diet and tumor formation.
The mysterious wave is thought to be linked to obesity, a sedentary lifestyle and junk food consumption, but other more novel theories have suggested that fungal infections or antibiotics could be the cause.
The graph above shows the cases of colon cancer among those under 50 per year. There has been a decline in 2020 as the Covid pandemic led to fewer people registering for screenings
Evan White, from Dallas, was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at the age of 24 after going to the hospital to have an abscess removed from his tonsils. On the right is Marisa Maddox who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29. She can no longer have children
The rate of colon cancer has increased by 50 percent in the US since 1999 among adults under the age of 50 – which is considered early-onset cancer, or when cancer occurs between the ages of 18 and 49.
Studies suggest that the number of cases in the age group worldwide has increased by 80 percent in three decades, to 3.26 million cases per year in 2019, up from 1.82 million in 1990.
Countries recording the biggest spikes include Ecuador and Korea, where the number of cases in this age group is increasing by an estimated five percent every year according to one review.
In the US, the disease will be the biggest cancer killer among people over 50 by 2030, researchers suggest.
It is already the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and the second cause in women. In the late 1990s it was the fourth biggest killer.
At the same time, cancer rates among older adults – where it is much more common – continue to decline.
The new global investigations will be led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
They will be accompanied by Dr. Tim Spector, a dietitian at King’s College London in Britain, who will investigate how changes in diet can influence the risk of cancer.
Dr. Spector said: ‘We signed up because bowel cancer, especially in younger adults, is a growing problem.
‘Our range of multidisciplinary skills can play an important role, especially when it comes to nutrition and the gut microbiome.’
He added: ‘People with rare and early cancers don’t receive as much research attention, so this is an important opportunity to better understand the risk factors and how prevention can be improved.’
The chart above shows the seven factors that scientists say increase the risk of colon cancer in younger men
Bowel cancer can cause you to have blood in your poop, a change in bowel habits, or a lump in your bowel that can cause blockages. Some people also suffer from weight loss as a result of these symptoms
The researchers hope their studies can be used to advise people on ways to reduce their risk of developing colon cancer.
The researchers, called Team PROSPECT, received the grant for their research from Cancer Grand Challenges.
The organization – funded by the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, and Cancer Research UK in London – awards grants for cancer research every two years.
Other teams that received grants included a group researching solid tumors in children and a group researching using the immune system to treat the disease.
Young patients with colon cancer include Evan White, 24, of Dallas, who was diagnosed with cancer shortly after graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in finance.
His tumor wasn’t noticed until it reached stage three, which meant the tumor had spread beyond the colon, making it much harder to treat.
Mr. White was on track to marry his girlfriend and move to California, but his dreams were cut short when he died after a four-year battle with the disease.
Others include Marisa Maddox of Delaware, a paralegal who was diagnosed with the disease at age 29.
Treating the condition has left her unable to have another child.
Doctors don’t know what’s causing the rise in bowel cancer among young people, but blame everything from antibiotics to obesity and even a fungus.
A study published last year by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, suggested that a diet high in fats could be behind the spike.
The researchers theorized that this diet had caused inflammation, which then increased the risk of colorectal cancer – a notoriously difficult type of disease to treat.
Another paper also published last year by Harvard researchers suggested a link to breast milk, after they found that women who were breastfed as babies were 40 percent more likely to develop the condition before they turned 55.
And a third article from the Cleveland Clinic suggested that a diet high in red meat and sugar could be the cause of this shift.
Many patients miss the cancer in the early stages, when it is easier to treat, because the symptoms are nonspecific
Colon cancer is a form of cancer in which cells begin to divide uncontrollably in the colon or rectum.
It is difficult to detect in the early stages because symptoms, such as changes in bowel habits, are difficult to recognize.
This increases the risk that the cancer will not be discovered until a later stage, when it has spread to other parts of the body and is much more difficult to treat.
Doctors say that when the cancer is caught early, more than 91 percent of patients survive more than five years after their diagnosis.
But if this is delayed, the survival rate drops to below 13 percent.