Take colorectal cancer : incidence rates have increased by 1 percent to 2 percent per year since the mid‐1990s in those younger than 55 years of age and decreased among those 65 and older . Meanwhile , in people younger than 50 , colorectal cancer has jumped four spots to become the leading cause of cancer death for men and the second‐leading cause for women .
As the rate of cancer diagnoses among younger Americans continues to rise , we can no longer think of cancer as a disease of the elderly . What is going on ?
Although we haven ’ t found a single reason for the increase , one thing is certain : we have a generational problem . Facts are stubborn things , and these alarming statistics demand answers . The 50‐andolder population has benefitted from efforts to reduce cancer deaths . What new strategies can do the same for younger people ?
Let ’ s start with what we know . The evidence shows that we can save lives by detecting cancer early , when treatment is more effective , less intensive and far less expensive . Regular , guideline‐based screenings for the most common cancers , such as breast , colorectal and lung cancers , give the best chance for early detection . Screenings for cervical and colorectal cancers can also detect warning signs before cancer develops , which aids in disease prevention . In developing screening guidelines , organizations such as the U . S . Preventive Services Task Force ( USPSTF ) and ACS conduct an extensive scientific evidence review and consider the benefits , limitations and harms of each test . Cancer screening can have downsides , including the fact that some patients will be recalled
for further evaluation based on an abnormal sign that will prove not to be cancer or will be diagnosed with a cancer that may not ever become life‐threatening . The benefits of recommended cancer screening substantially exceed these harms , however . So it ’ s critical that young people pay attention to whether they have risk factors that mean they should get screened .
Continuing to raise awareness and discussing personal risk factors , such as unhealthy habits , environmental hazards and especially a family history of cancer , can significantly improve outcomes by guiding screening and treatment recommendations . But that formula and the system that activates it haven ’ t reached everyone under 50 . For colorectal cancer , only 20 percent of eligible people aged 45 to 49 ( ACS guidelines recommend this screening begin at age 45 ) reported being up‐to‐date with screenings in 2021 versus 80 percent of people aged 65 to 74 .
The benefits of following these guidelines go far beyond a screening appointment . An accurate diagnosis and thoughtful decision on the appropriate course of treatment are two sides of the same coin – especially if cancer is caught early . A diagnosis may not mean radical surgery or expensive medications . If a patient has a slowprogressing prostate cancer , the best care is watching and waiting , known medically as “ active surveillance .” Francis Collins , who led the sequencing of the human genome and was formerly director of the National Institutes of Health , recently shared his journey closely tracking a slow‐progressing case of prostate cancer , which ultimately progressed but appears to have been caught in time to save his life . That can ’ t