The chance of surviving bowel cancer for patients under the age of 50 plunge dramatically if the disease is not caught early, a study has warned.
Cases of bowel cancer – also known as colorectal cancer – have surged among younger adults in recent decades. Around one in 10 cases now occur in people under 50, while diagnoses among those aged 25 to 49 have doubled since the early 1990s.
It is also now the fourth-most common cancer in Britain and is responsible for around 46,600 new cancer cases every year, as well as 17,700 deaths.
But now, a study published in JAMA Oncology has found that catching and treating the disease early is crucial – and warned that missing it can have catastrophic consequences.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas analysed data from 112,672 colorectal cancer patients in Texas over a period of 15 years, including 12,079 diagnosed before the age of 50 – known as early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC).
The study found that while younger patients generally have better overall survival rates than those diagnosed later in life, delays of more than six weeks between diagnosis and the start of treatment for those with EOCRC were linked to a 29 per cent higher risk of death over the study period.
It also uncovered that those diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer – known as stage four – also faced almost six times the risk of death compared with patients whose cancer was caught early.
The authors wrote: ‘In this cross-sectional study, EOCRC was associated with improved (survival rates) compared with (those diagnosed with the disease over 50); however, treatment delays were independently associated with worse survival among patients with EOCRC.’
The chance of surviving bowel cancer for patients under the age of 50 plunge dramatically if the disease is not caught early, a study has warned
Patients whose cancer had spread only to nearby lymph nodes and tissues were also found to have a 49 per cent higher risk of death than those diagnosed at the earliest stage.
Researchers identified language barriers as a key factor contributing to delays in treatment.
Patients with difficulty communicating were significantly more likely to experience treatment delays, which in turn were linked to poorer survival outcomes.
The researchers wrote: ‘Treatment delays were associated with worse overall survival, and the presence of a language barrier was identified as a key social risk factor contributing to treatment delays in this population.’
The findings come amid growing concern over a global rise in bowel cancer among younger adults.
Separate research published by the American Cancer Society (ACS) in March found that the disease is killing people aged between 20 and 49 at unprecedented rates.
The worrying study revealed that there is around a three per cent increase of young adults being diagnosed with bowel cancer every year, with 158,850 new cases and 55,230 deaths predicted in the US in 2026.
In February, Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek died after a two year battle with bowel cancer, aged 48.
With analyses last year also uncovering that bowel cancer cases are on the rise in under 50s across nations including Britain, Australia and Canada, there are growing fears about the uptick in the disease.
Dr Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance, prevention and health services research at the ACS, said: ‘It’s clear that colorectal cancer can be longer be called an old person’s disease.
‘We must double down on research to pinpoint what is driving this tsunami of cancer in generations born since 1950.’
