Colorectal cancer doesn’t care how old you are

Colorectal cancer is becoming more prevalent and deadlier among younger people, according to studies from the American Cancer Society.

Colorectal cancer isn’t exclusive to the elderly. 

New studies from the American Cancer Society indicate rates of are moving in two different directions. The disease continues to decline in older adults while rates are rapidly rising in people 65 and younger. 

The triennial report, Colorectal Cancer Studies, 2026 found that a large reason for these rates rising is due to cancers in the distal colon — the last section adjacent to the rectum. As a result, rectal cancer makes up nearly 33% of all colorectal cancer diagnoses.

“After decades of progress, the risk of dying from colorectal cancer is climbing in younger men and women, confirming a real uptick in disease because of something we’re doing or some other exposure,” said Rebecca Siegel, senior scientific director, surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the report. “We need to not only significantly increase research efforts to understand the cause but also circumvent these deaths through earlier detection by educating clinicians and the general public, especially knowing the five-year survival for early disease is more than 90%.”

The report indicates that colorectal cancer is the third most common type in both men and women in the United States and second leading cause of cancer-related death. For adults under 50 years of age, it is now the No. 1 cause of cancer-related mortality. In 2026 alone, an estimated 158,850 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed, and 55,230 people are expected to die due to the disease. The figure includes more than 200 new diagnoses a day in people younger than 65 years.

 
In North Carolina, an estimated 5,050 new cases of colorectal cancer will be diagnosed, and 1,900 people will die from the disease in 2026.

Risk factors and screening 

According to researchers, over half of colorectal cancers can be attributed to modifiable risk factors such as smoking, unhealthy diets, alcohol consumption, inactivity and obesity. Most are preventable and should be to lower the risk of developing the disease. 

Additional cases and deaths are preventable through appropriate screening and access to high?quality treatment. Scientists found that half of people diagnosed before 50 are between 45-49 years and eligible for screening. Screening prevalence in this age group is just 37%, and three-in-four colorectal cancers in adults younger than 50 years are diagnosed at an advanced stage.

“These findings further underscore that colorectal cancer is worsening among younger generations and highlight the immediate need for eligible adults to begin screening at the recommended age of 45,” said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer at the American Cancer Society. “The report also shines a light on the crucial importance of continued funding for research to help discover new therapies to treat the disease and advance patient care.”

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