Colorectal cancer age gap widens: 7 study notes

Adults younger than 65 now account for 45% of all newly diagnosed colorectal cancer cases in the U.S., up from 27% in 1995, according to the American Cancer Society’s “Colorectal Cancer Statistics, 2026” report published March 2 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 

American Cancer Society researchers used data from the National Cancer Institute’s SEER program, and from the CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries and National Center for Health Statistics to analyze U.S. colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. 

Here are seven things to know from the report:

1. Colorectal cancer is now the number one cause of cancer-related mortality for adults younger than 50 and the second leading cause of cancer-related death overall.
   
   Lung cancer, previously the leading cause in this age group, has fallen to fourth.
   
   
2. An estimated 158,850 individuals will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2026 and 55,230 people will die from the disease.
   
   Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer for men and women, and about 200 adults younger than 65 will be diagnosed every day in 2026.
   
   
3. Colorectal cancer incidence has risen by 3% per year among adults ages 20-49 and by 0.4% per year among adults ages 50-64. Incidence has decreased by more than 2% per year among adults ages 65 and older.
   
   Similarly, colorectal cancer mortality has risen 1% per year among adults under 50, since 2004, and in adults ages 50-64, since 2019, while mortality has decreased by more than 2% per year among adults ages 65 and older.
   
   
4. Three in 4 colorectal cancer cases among adults younger than 50 are diagnosed at an advanced stage.
   
   Despite half of all adults ages 45-49 being eligible for cancer screening, the screening rate among this age group is only 37%.
   
   
5. Rectal cancer makes up 32% of all colorectal cancer diagnoses, with incidence rising across all age groups by 1% between 2018 and 2022.
   

6. Colorectal cancer incidence and mortality rates are highest among Alaska Native people, at 80.9 per 100,000 and 31.5 per 100,000, respectively. 
   

7. “These findings … highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” William Dahut, MD, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, said in a March 2 news release from the organization. “The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”

Read the full study here.