According to new research, colorectal cancer rates among younger adults have increased by two-fold in the United States since 1995.
The study conducted by the American Cancer Society (ACS) has found that colorectal cancer has been hitting Americans under 50 years of age and there has been a surge over two decades.
The obesity epidemic in the U.S. has been the culprit in the continuous rise in colorectal cancer cases.
The study cleared one thing: the surge in colorectal cancer rates has been more among white Americans in the West.
Particularly, colorectal cancer was once believed to be an old age disease, with the exceptions of childhood cancers such as leukemia and glioma. However, in recent years, men and women in their 40s and some even in 30s are dying of colorectal cancer.
According to the ACS report, colon cancer rates increased by nearly 0.7 percent each year from 1995 to 2015. And the rectal cancer cases surged significantly, increasing by 1.7 percent each year over the same period.
While the rates of colorectal cancer remained quite stable among black and Hispanic Americans, the numbers increased more among white and Western Americans. Out of those 10 states, six were in the West, including Washington, where the numbers have doubled. Colorado also saw a substantial increase of 60 percent.
A research team based at Ohio State University found that increases in rectal cancer cases were steeper across the board, which were mostly confined to whites.
Although the cases increased more dramatically in Western states, rates stayed highest among Southern states. Also, obesity rates have been highest and researchers suspect that obesity is literally feeding colorectal cancers.
However, Ohio State University researchers said that neither obesity nor excessive drinking (another known risk factor of cancer) matched up when they compared them to state increases and rates of colorectal cancer. They were not linked to increased rates of colorectal cancer among younger adults. The researchers write, “Early-onset colorectal cancer is increasing in the US for unknown reasons. Geographic differences in the trend could contribute to etiologic hypotheses but are unknown.”
