Colon Cancer Is On The Rise — How You Can Lower Your Risk

You prob­a­bly think about exer­cise, diet, or stress when con­sid­er­ing your health, but if you’re under 50, your colon deserves atten­tion too. Col­orec­tal can­cer is no longer just a con­cern for old­er adults. Rates are climb­ing in younger peo­ple at a pace that demands imme­di­ate atten­tion — now the num­ber one cause of can­cer-relat­ed death in adults under 50. This sud­den shift needs your focus today, not tomorrow.

Take action now: col­orec­tal can­cer is one of the most pre­ventable and treat­able can­cers when caught ear­ly. Under­stand­ing your risk and get­ting screened imme­di­ate­ly are two of the most deci­sive moves you can make.

Col­orec­tal Can­cer: At a Glance

• Rates in younger adults are climb­ing. Col­orec­tal can­cer diag­noses are ris­ing by about 3% per year in peo­ple ages 20 – 49, even as they con­tin­ue to fall in old­er adults.

• It is now the num­ber one can­cer killer for adults under 50. This means you should treat pre­ven­tion as urgent — wait­ing could cost you your life.
• Screen­ing saves lives. The Amer­i­can Can­cer Soci­ety rec­om­mends start­ing colonoscopy screen­ing at age 45 for aver­age-risk adults — and ear­li­er if you have risk factors.
• Many cas­es are pre­ventable. Researchers link more than half of col­orec­tal can­cers to con­trol­lable fac­tors like diet, phys­i­cal activ­i­ty, and smoking. 

Is Colon Can­cer On The Rise?

Yes, and the grow­ing threat to younger adults can’t be ignored. Take this trend seri­ous­ly and act now, rather than risk becom­ing part of it.

Over­all, col­orec­tal can­cer rates have been drop­ping since the mid-1980s, large­ly because more peo­ple are get­ting screened and catch­ing prob­lems ear­ly. In 2026, the Amer­i­can Can­cer Soci­ety esti­mates about 158,850 new diag­noses, but the death rate in old­er adults has steadi­ly declined. That’s real progress.

The con­cern­ing part is what’s hap­pen­ing in younger adults. For peo­ple ages 20 – 49, col­orec­tal can­cer rates have been climb­ing by about 3% per year since the late 1990s. For adults 50 – 64, rates are also tick­ing upward at around 0.4% annu­al­ly. Mean­while, rates in adults 65 and old­er are falling by 2.5% a year.

The result: near­ly half of all new col­orec­tal can­cer diag­noses (45%) now occur in peo­ple under 65. Back in 1995, that num­ber was 27%. And about 3 out of 4 younger adults diag­nosed with col­orec­tal can­cer are found at an advanced stage, which makes treat­ment sig­nif­i­cant­ly harder.

Researchers are still work­ing to under­stand why. Some sus­pect the shift is tied to ris­ing rates of obe­si­ty and seden­tary lifestyles. Oth­ers are look­ing at ultra-processed food con­sump­tion, changes in gut bac­te­ria, and even envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors like microplas­tics. There isn’t one defin­i­tive answer yet, but that should­n’t be cause for pan­ic. Sci­ence is advanc­ing quick­ly, and in the mean­time, there’s plen­ty you can do. 

Source: Amer­i­can Can­cer Soci­ety
 

What Can You Do to Low­er Your Risk?

Do not wait. The most impor­tant step: get screened now — this deci­sion could save your life.

Both the Amer­i­can Can­cer Soci­ety and the U.S. Pre­ven­tive Ser­vices Task Force rec­om­mend that aver­age-risk adults start col­orec­tal can­cer screen­ing at age 45. A colonoscopy is one of the most effec­tive options — it allows your provider to exam­ine the lin­ing of your colon and rec­tum with a small cam­era, look­ing for polyps, tumors, inflam­ma­tion, or oth­er concerns.

Here’s the part that sur­pris­es many peo­ple: a colonoscopy does­n’t just detect can­cer — it can actu­al­ly pre­vent it. Many polyps found dur­ing a colonoscopy are pre­can­cer­ous, mean­ing they haven’t yet turned into can­cer. Your doc­tor can remove them on the spot, elim­i­nat­ing the threat before it starts. That’s a rare and pow­er­ful thing in can­cer medicine.

Beyond screen­ing, lifestyle choic­es play a mean­ing­ful role. Researchers esti­mate that more than half of col­orec­tal can­cers are linked to risk fac­tors with­in your con­trol. Along­side sched­ul­ing reg­u­lar colono­scopies start­ing at 45, you can also low­er your risk by:

• Stay­ing phys­i­cal­ly active — even 30 to 60 min­utes of walk­ing most days makes a difference
• Eat­ing more fiber, fruits, veg­eta­bles, and whole grains, and cut­ting back on processed and red meats
• Lim­it­ing alco­hol and quit­ting smoking
• Main­tain­ing a healthy weight 

Sched­ule your first colonoscopy today by call­ing 630−967−1611 or book via our web­site.

Am I at a High­er Risk?

Some peo­ple face a high­er base­line risk for col­orec­tal can­cer — not because of any­thing they’ve done, but because of fac­tors out­side their con­trol. Know­ing where you stand helps you and your provider make smarter deci­sions about when and how often to screen. You may have a high­er risk if you:

• Have a per­son­al or fam­i­ly his­to­ry of col­orec­tal can­cer or polyps
• Have an inher­it­ed con­di­tion like Lynch syn­drome or famil­ial ade­no­ma­tous poly­po­sis (FAP)
• Have inflam­ma­to­ry bow­el dis­ease (IBD), includ­ing Crohn’s dis­ease or ulcer­a­tive colitis
• Are male
• Are Black or Amer­i­can Indian/​Alaska Native — these groups have sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er inci­dence and mor­tal­i­ty rates

If any of these risk fac­tors apply, do not delay — talk to your provider now. Ear­ly screen­ing could be the dif­fer­ence between life and death for you. 

Don’t Ignore These Symptoms

One of the chal­lenges with col­orec­tal can­cer is that it often devel­ops with­out any notice­able symp­toms until it’s more advanced. That’s exact­ly why rou­tine screen­ing mat­ters so much. But there are warn­ing signs worth know­ing, espe­cial­ly giv­en the 4 – 6 month gap that often exists between when younger adults first notice symp­toms and when they actu­al­ly get diag­nosed. Talk to your provider if you notice:

• Rec­tal bleed­ing or blood in your stool
• Per­sis­tent changes in bow­el habits — like diar­rhea, con­sti­pa­tion, or stool that looks nar­row­er than usual
• Unex­plained abdom­i­nal pain or cramping
• A feel­ing that your bow­el does­n’t ful­ly empty
• Unin­tend­ed weight loss or unex­plained fatigue

These symp­toms war­rant a con­ver­sa­tion with your provider imme­di­ate­ly. Do not wait or rely on the inter­net; swift com­mu­ni­ca­tion can be lifesaving. 

Pro­tect Your Col­orec­tal Health With Duly

Talk­ing about your colon, bow­el habits, or a colonoscopy might feel a lit­tle awk­ward. But your Duly provider has had this con­ver­sa­tion many, many times — and they’d much rather have it with you now than later.

If you’re 45 or old­er and haven’t been screened, now is the time. If you’re younger and have risk fac­tors, bring them up at your next appoint­ment. And if some­thing feels off, don’t wait. Col­orec­tal can­cer caught ear­ly is high­ly treat­able and in many cas­es, pre­ventable entirely. 

Sched­ule your first colonoscopy today by call­ing 630−967−1611 — take a crit­i­cal step in pro­tect­ing your health. Check out our blog on how to pre­pare. >