NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is now the number one cause of cancer death in adults under 50, with cases rising 1% annually in this group.
Medical professionals are investigating the cause. They say there is a birth cohort effect. Rates of colorectal cancer have increased, starting with people born in the late 1970s and later, suggesting a change that occurred at that time with a broad impact across the population.
Dr. Meredith Pelster is a medical oncologist with SCRI Oncology Partners and Associate Director of Gastrointestinal Cancer Research at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute. She strongly encourages everyone to consider getting on track with screening. Colorectal cancer is one of the few cancers that can be prevented through a colonoscopy. However, nearly 40% of eligible adults are not up to date on them.
Oncologists recommend to start screening at 45. It can catch precancerous polyps which can take several years to develop into an early cancer and even more time to spread outside the colon. Treatment is simpler when polyps and small cancer are detected early.
You may be recommended to start screening earlier based on risk factors. Modifiable factors include obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol consumption, and dietary habits that are high in red and processed meat, sugar sweetened beverages, and ultra processed foods. Non-modifiable factors are family history and having inflammatory bowel disease or Lynch syndrome.
Symptoms can be changes in bowel habits such as the development of diarrhea or constipation, blood in the stool, abdominal pain or cramping and unexplained weight loss.
Clinical research at SCRI Oncology Partners is working on new treatment options for people facing colorectal cancer in the metastatic setting. For more information, visit cancercarescri.com.
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