The diagnosis and treatment of innumerable diseases has become easier, less expensive and more reliable thanks in part to advances in lab information management, effectively the front lines of medicine. Readily available, highly accurate testing has given way to a wealth of new data and better ways of analyzing it. One of the most talked-about findings to have recently come from these developments is a striking one: Colon cancer is seemingly on the rise in populations generally considered low-risk.
"More young adults are developing colorectal cancer even as incidence declines in the general population."
Evidence to support this claim has been gathering for at least three years. A study published in JAMA Surgery in November 2014 revealed the start of an apparent trend. Analyzing a national database of more than 400,000 U.S. patients diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer, researchers found that people under 50 were being diagnosed with the disease at a higher rate than normal, while the overall incidence had been in decline since the 1980s.
Later studies confirmed these findings and even illuminated more alarming ones – an increasing number of Americans as young as their 20s and 30s were being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. But since cancer is so often ruled out in this age group, research shows that these younger victims were also more likely to be in the advanced stages of the disease. In too many cases, doctors were hesitant to correlate symptoms to a cancer diagnosis, giving the disease more time to spread to other organs and become much more difficult to treat.
Colorectal cancer is most typically and reliably diagnosed visually, after a polyp or growth is found during a colonoscopy or MRI, for example. But like other types of cancer, it can also be investigated through lab tests, including blood screens and stool samples.
According to The New York Times, doctors are quickly beginning to understand the trend and therefore taking more precautions with younger patients, especially if they present acute symptoms like blood in the stool. However, more subtle signs are present, but only if found and taken seriously. For example, The Times noted that low iron levels can indicate early-stage colorectal malignancy, but this is also a common symptom in many women while menstruating. However, this sign has become such a reliable predictor that one doctor told The Times, "in women who are not menstruating and in men, anemia is colon cancer until proven otherwise."
Diagnosing and treating less common cancers
Experts are quick to point out that even with this sharp uptick, the incidence of colorectal cancer among young people is still relatively low. But the news highlights a need for better, easier testing that can be used to identify or quickly rule out a potentially devastating illness like cancer. And in the case of colorectal cancer, a number of complicating factors make simple lab tests preferable:
- Colonoscopy is rarely done routinely in people under 50, especially because the procedure is still relatively risky compared to a blood test, imaging or another non-invasive procedure.
- The very nature of colorectal cancer symptoms further complicates diagnosis. With signs like abnormal bowel movements or hemorrhoids, which can be embarrassing to talk about, the disease could simply go ignored. That's also true for more minor symptoms like anemia, fatigue and generally feeling unwell, each of which can be the result of a host of unrelated problems.
- The risk factors of colorectal cancer are similar to those of other cancers, and include genetics, age and behaviors like smoking, excessive drinking and poor diet. However, experts have noted an apparent uptick in the disease among even healthy young adults.
- As with a host of other diseases, access to high quality, affordable lab testing services can be enormously beneficial to patients and their physicians, helping them quickly and accurately identify and treat a condition. According to Dr. Ross F. Goldberg, who wrote a column on the disease for The Arizona Republic, high-sensitivity testing is a promising option for finding these cancers in their earliest stages, allowing doctors to begin the appropriate treatment regimen.
Even with the uptick in colorectal cancer diagnosis in younger people, it remains relatively uncommon in Americans younger than 40. However, the sharp increase in its incidence may lead to new diagnostic standards.
