4 Colon Cancer Signs

The number of young adults being diagnosed with colon cancer is rising globally.

In the U.S., health officials have been tracking a rise in early onset colon cancer cases, but a new study from the American Cancer Society shows it’s not just young Americans who are being increasingly diagnosed with this disease.

“Out of the 50 countries, about 27 of them were seeing the same trend of increase in early onset colorectal cancer,” Dr. William Dahut of the American Cancer Society said.

Researchers mainly looked at highly developed economic countries for the study. And while the rise was noted in more than half the countries researched, it’s still unclear what’s behind the increase.

“There seems to be a correlation with increased wealth. And we think that’s likely related to exposure to poor dietary habits or sedentary lifestyle,” Dahut said. “There’s not a one-to-one correlation.”

Another study by the National Cancer Institute shows four signs common in people who go on to develop colon cancer: diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain and iron-deficiency anemia.

The agency says just having one of these signs is linked to nearly twice the likelihood of being diagnosed with early onset colorectal cancer.

“There’s more genetic risk in younger patients. We do know a correlation between obesity, metabolic changes and colorectal cancer,” Dahut said. “ But for individual patients, we’re not actually sure what often triggers this.”