Research has shown that cases of colorectal cancer are increasingly occurring among young adults. Today, data shows that cases are also increasing among children.
A new analysis of 22 years of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a dramatic increase in cases. colorectal cancers in children between 1999 and 2020. Researchers found that the rate of colorectal cancers increased by 500% in children aged 10 to 14 during this period, by 333% in adolescents aged 15 to 19 and 185% among young adults aged 20 to 24. is presented to Digestive Diseases Week later this month.
It is important to emphasize that the total number of these cases is small. For example, in 2020, only 0.6 children aged 10 to 14 per 100,000 children were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, compared to 0.1 per 100,000 in 1999. Among adolescents, the number increased from 0, 3 to 1.3 per 100,000, and among young adults, cases have increased. from 0.7 to 2 per 100,000.
Still, doctors say these increases deserve attention. “These results are definitely alarming” Dr Tiago Biachi, a medical oncologist in the department of gastrointestinal oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, told Yahoo Life. Here’s what parents need to know.
Why are these cases increasing?
It is not known why colorectal cancers are increasing among young people. However, Biachi says there are a few things to keep in mind.
“It is well known that the process leading to the development of “non-hereditary” colorectal cancer takes time and the usual interval between polyp and the cancer lasts between five and 10 years,” says Biachi. “This means that these children developing colorectal cancer were likely exposed to risk factors from a very young age.”
Dr Jacqueline Casillas, pediatric hematologist/oncologist and medical director of the Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Institute at MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, told Yahoo Life that lifestyle factors can play a role, including obesity, a high diet in processed foods, a sedentary lifestyle. lifestyle and taking antibiotics that change a child’s gut microbiome. “Is there something [happening] before birth? We just don’t know,” she said. “We’re going to have to follow that trend.”
But Dr. Jeffrey Hyams, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life that it remains incredibly rare. “I’ve been practicing medicine for 40 years and I saw a case of colorectal cancer in a teenager,” he says. “I haven’t seen any cases in people who didn’t have any predisposing risk factors.” (Risk factors for colorectal cancer include having inflammatory bowel disease as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, a family history of colorectal cancer, and hereditary syndromes like Lynch syndrome And familial adenomatous polyposisaccording to American Cancer Society.)
Dr AS Anton Bilchiksurgical oncologist, chief medical officer and director of the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, also…
