Immediately after my 54th birthday, I received the package. The enclosed instructions said the next time I empty my intestines, I should shave a little of the stool, shave it into a small sample bottle, seal it in a prepaid envelope and drop it in a post. I did the act and a few weeks later I was invited to the hospital. My sample contained blood. Colonoscopy was ordered to rule out colorectal cancer.
Thankfully, I don’t have colorectal cancer. Colonoscopy of 54 is not a classic start to middle age. However, over the next few years, this particular rite of passage may begin to occur much earlier. The proportion of this cancer among people in my age group has been declining thanks to screening programs like this, but talking about under 50 years is much more troubling.
Early onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) is now circumscribed, as is known in people under the age of 50, due to its virtually unprecedented nature of the 20th century. 10% of all new cases worldwide. That number is expected to more than double by 2030, and by then EOCRC is expected to be the most common form of fatal cancer among Americans aged 20-49.
The reasons are uncertain, but ambitious new projects explore potential causes. The idea is that EORC may also be a more clear and aggressive form of illness. Meanwhile, as routine screening expanded to younger groups – in January, the UK reduced the screening age to 50 – and the new, less invasive test…
