With the start of Blue Mars and the new campaign to encourage colon cancer screening for 50-74 year olds, a new study by the American cancer society raises the question of earlier screening.
After analyzing the figures for the incidence of colorectal cancer between 1974 and 2013, researchers found a disturbing trend: since the mid-1980s, the incidence of colon cancer in 20-30 year olds has increased each year by 1 to 2%. And the incidence of rectal cancer has increased by 3% each year among 20-30 year olds and 2% among 40-54 year olds.
30% of cancers diagnosed in people under 55
“Now, 3 out of 10 rectal cancers are diagnosed in patients under the age of 55” explains Rebecca Siegel, who led the study for the American Cancer Society. “People born in 1990, like my son, are twice as likely to have colon cancer and four times as likely to get rectal cancer than someone born in the 50s at a young age. comparable” insists the epidemiologist. “And that risk will increase as this generation ages”.
Young adults with colorectal cancer are also at risk of being diagnosed later, when the tumor becomes less treatable.
Sedentary lifestyle and excess weight incriminated
The study does not determine the reasons for this increase in the number of colorectal cancers in “Generation X” but Rebecca Siegel suggests that it could be due to the same factors that contributed to the epidemic of obesity: mode sedentary lifestyle, excess weight, low fiber intake…
The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 95,000 new cases of colon cancer and nearly 40,000 new cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2017.
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