A new American Cancer Society (ACS) study found that more young people, particularly men, are getting colon cancer earlier than ever before. In fact, it’s now the deadliest form of cancer among men under 50 and the second-leading cause of cancer death for women in the same age group.
Doctors at the AdventHealth Digestive Health and Surgery Institute are trying to better understand why this age range is skewing younger, and are finding a link between colon cancer and certain risk factors that doctors say can be modified.
“Obesity, smoking, alcohol, diets that are low in fiber,” Dr. Mark Soliman, a colon and rectal surgeon and the AdventHealth chief of colorectal surgery, recently told WESH 2 News.
Doctors also suspect inactive lifestyles and highly processed food containing new toxins have raised the risks for younger people. However, Soliman stresses the silver lining here: “every one of these things mentioned is entirely preventable and reversible. In fact, we’re really good at curing this cancer, not just control them. Even if it’s stage four, we can cure them with multidisciplinary care at AdventHealth.”
Learn more about the warning signs for colorectal cancer and screening ages, which have recently changed – watch the full interview here.