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Our Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center experts offer important steps that you can take to prevent and detect colon cancer in its earliest forms. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in men and women in the United States. Advances in cancer treatment and better screening methods have helped to improve colon cancer survival rates in the past decade, but since 1994, cases of young-onset colorectal cancer have increased drastically. Colon cancer is considered young-onset or early-onset when it occurs in patients under the age of 50. In an effort to address this alarming increase in cases of colorectal cancer among young adults, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center opened the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center in March 2019. The center focuses exclusively on the care of patients under age 50. To learn more about the center, visit https://www.dana-farber.org/young-onset-colorectal-cancer-center/.

You may think you’re too young for this sh*t, but colorectal cancer is on the rise in younger adults—so listen up. Learn more at https://www.preventcancer.org/tooyoungforthis

Dana-Farber’s Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center launched a new series of educational workshops, Gut Instincts: A Series on Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer. The first event took place on Thursday, March 4 and focused on Best Practices for Screening Young People.

Why are young adults getting colorectal cancer? This three-part series examines what is known about the growing incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer, what factors may be driving it, and the heroic efforts to arrest this devastating and frequently deadly form of the disease. Dr John Marshall, a leading oncologist, explores this phenomenon by taking us into the exam rooms and labs of a major cancer research center, and into the lives of two patients in their 30s who have metastatic colorectal cancer.

Since the mid-90’s, there has been a rise in young patients getting colorectal cancer. Even more recently, we’ve seen death rates in patients under 50. There is no clear understanding of why this is happening. Theories such as diabetes and obesity are potential causes. At Georgetown, research is looking at microbiomes and seeing if there is any correlation. More videos like this: https://ruesch.georgetown.edu/rueschreels Transcript: Since the mid-1990s, we've seen a dramatic rise in young patients getting colorectal cancer. This is a relatively recent phenomena and recently since the year 2000, we've actually seen death rates in the patients under 50 years old from colorectal cancer. Why this is happening, we don't actually have a very good idea. There are a number of theories that have been positive, including obesity, diabetes, rising in those epidemics causing the rise in colorectal cancer. However, no one has really put their finger on the exact cause. Here at Georgetown University, we're doing some research into microbiome, to try to understand does the bacterial makeup of the patient's colons lead to young onset colorectal cancer? Are young onset colorectal cancers fundamentally different than patients who get colorectal cancer later in life? Those are multiple questions that we're trying to actively investigate now and we hope to have answers in the near future.

Dr. John Marshall and Dr. Marcus Noel discuss the passing of Chadwick Boseman and how it highlights the rise in colorectal cancer in people under 50. They stress the importance of catching this disease at an early stage, while sharing economic and health disparities that impact screening. They explain warning signs for colorectal cancer, the importance of self-advocating, statistics on the delay in diagnosis under 50, and the toll of colon cancer on your family.

Dr. Weinberg, Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University Hospital, explains the relationship between the microbiome and the development of certain colorectal malignancies

In the opening segment to “The Biology of Extending Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer,” John L. Marshall, MD; Dirk Arnold, MD, PhD; Fortunato Ciardiello, MD, PhD; Paul R. Helft, MD; and Tanios Bekaii-Saab, MD, provide insight into global trends in the prevalence of early-onset colorectal cancer and the potential impact on screening guidelines.