Worrying increase in bowel cancer in the young, fit & healthy

[notyetretired]

Just curious to know why this is?

There have been lots of reports lately reporting that the incidence of bowel cancer has increased to a worrying degree in the young, attributing it to a number of possible causes (e.g. microbiome/gut bacteria, processed food & meat consumption, obesity, screening younger etc).

However, many clinical experts have been baffled as to why they are increasingly seeing those who are genuinely young, fit and healthy (consuming no or very little meat/processed food and alcohol and who are into regular exercise). Several high profile cases fit this - Bowel Babe to name just one.

I'm curious to know why this is so? Of course, various studies are still ongoing any researchers on here with theories or observations as to what might be behind this rise? Also interested in more anecdotal evidence as to life style issues that might be contributing and which fit the timelines of the increases.

I thought this was interesting:

Researchers report dramatic rise in cancer in people under 50 — Harvard Gazette

I can’t comment on the causes but I can give you my health history in case it is of interest. I am 33 years old and was diagnosed with anal cancer last year. I have two small children who I sincerely hope will not inherit my poor health.

I would like to think I have a reasonably healthy lifestyle. However I have had Crohn’s since I was 10, mainly around the anal canal, my surgeon believes that the cancer was caused by 23 years of inflammation in that area. I also have coeliac disease so I am gluten free and have been for two years. A lot of gluten free food is very processed - you only have to buy a loaf of bread and notice how long it lasts until it goes mouldy. I would say I largely eat a naturally gluten free diet though, rather than consuming gluten free replacements.

I echo what pps have said about low fibre diet and Crohn’s. Before I was gf I mainly consumed low fibre because I had several bowel strictures and could have ended up with a perforated bowel from blockages if I went with high fibre. Perhaps I did not help my risk of cancer by doing that but it was the only way to live my life without having either major bowel surgery or being extremely ill a lot of the time.

I am not really sure why I am sharing my experience - perhaps just as a reminder that there is more to it sometimes than what you eat. I really hope people I know in real life aren’t wondering what I have done wrong to cause my cancer, it’s a very depressing thought that there is that mindset.

Yes as I said not all polyps have the potential to become cancer, but cancers tend to start as a polyp. That’s why polyps are best off removed. Weed the garden! You have your FIT (FOBs are being replaced by FIT now) and if that is positive you have your colonoscopy. Polyp removal can prevent cancer was my point though.

I haven't read the whole thread but has anyone mentioned the research into the possible link with breastfeeding?
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/10/study-finds-link-between-breastfeeding-rise-in-adult-colorectal-cancer-risk/

Gosh, that's really interesting. And opposite to what one would expect.

There is also the study which found that the mothers who had sugar during pregnancy versus those who had no access (due to rationing) surprisingly showed that those mothers who ingested sugar gave birth to children who went on to have more positive later-life health outcomes. https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-09/WP202238-Prenatal-sugar-consumption-and-late-life-human-capital-and-health.pdf

All as part of the “fetal programming” or “developmental origins of health and disease” framework to explain later-life health outcomes. Lots of research in this area.

Again counter intuitive.

Agree wholeheartedly!

I'm facing cancer for the third ( yes third ) time. My diet contains no processed food and a small amount of natural and refined sugar.

If you can't back it up, don't post it!

I seriously hope there's ALOT more to it, than eating bacon and lack of vegetables!

Colon Cancer Is Rising In Young People: What to Know About Causes and Symptoms - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

How is it possible to be obese on a healthy diet?

Our family in the us were astounded that we had family members dying because of colorectal cancer because (if you have health insurance )in the us having routine colonoscopies after a certain age is so common…. hence action can be taken to remove pre-cancerous polyps ( and obviously early curative treatment is possible if cancer itself is detected).

I'm in the US and of the age that I get routine screening colonoscopies. Polyps are a routine finding and while roughly 90% of them will never progress to cancer 10% of them will if left in place.

So colonoscopies with polyp removal absolutely can prevent cancer. Unlike a mammogram that simply detects an abnormality you're literally interrupting the polyp>cancer pathway.

This is not to say that colonoscopies prevent all colon cancers because they can not. Not all cancer starts as a polyp. Not all polyps can be detected (some are flat and not visible). Some cancers (particularly in hereditary syndromes) can occur in the brief interval between colonoscopies.

But it is not correct to say that screening doesn't prevent cancer because it does and the steadily lowering rates of CC in the over 50's in the US do reflect that.

Raw unprocessed stevia is not approved for food use due to concerns it can harm kidneys, reproductive system, and cardiovascular system. (FDA). More research is needed.

The heavily processed end product has GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status at the moment.

@mikado1
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/feta-and-kale-loaded-sweet-potato
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spicy-black-bean-tacos (we have homemade wraps rather than tacos)
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/baked-falafel-cauliflower-tabbouleh-avocado-pea-feta-smash#commentsFeed
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-spaghetti-bolognese-recipe (we skip the bacon and use wholemeal pasta)
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mustardy-salmon-beetroot-lentils
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spicy-root-lentil-casserole

The idea is 30 different plant based foods over a week. You can count herbs and spices uses in foods, nuts, seeds and wholegrains.

We have homemade granola with mixed nuts and seeds with cinnamon a few times a week that's four different seeds, five different nuts, porridge oats and cinnamon so that's 11 in one meal.

I wondered if it had anything to do with when you were weaned? I was being given fruit juice and food when I was 3 months old, born mid 80s. Otherwise it could be to do with sweeteners(aspartme) etc or all the fast food we eat?

One thing that crossed my mind at the school gates today is that most of the mothers waiting on the yard had their mobile phone poking out of their back pocket of their jeans. I see more younger people do that than older generations. When mobile phones first were a thing there was talk of them causing brain tumours, then that was all shut down when it became a huge profit-making industry. A lot of the foods mentioned on this thread have been around for many decades, but the biggest change in the past 25 years has been mobile phones.

But those born 1975 and earlier were MORE likely to be weaned at 3 months than in 1980. This only shifted to later (based on WHO data from the developing world so very misleading) in the mid 2000, I think. In fact some research suggest that weaning later has led to an explosion in food allergies as there is a special window when certain allergens are best introduced.

It's very easy to be obese on a healthy diet. You can eat too much healthy food! I am obese and eat plenty of veg, salad, fish etc just more of it than I need. I'm not morbidly obese just 2.5 stone over a healthy BMI. I don't sit around eating McDonalds all day (in fact I rarely eat fast food). Plenty of fat people eat better than thin people.

Amazing. Thank you so much.

It was all shut down because there is no plausible scientific evidence that mobiles cause anything aside from dangerous driving.

https://www.datasciencecentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2808309778.png

@ElizaB22
You beat me to it. I also thought about Chernobyl. I remember scientists at the time saying there would be an increase in cancer rates due to all the radioactivity released. You don't hear it mentioned often. I wonder why not?

We don't get routine screening colonoscopies where I am, but we do get free FOBT sent to us every two years post 50. An astonishingly high percentage sent these do not open the package and take the test.

Those who do, and who get a positive result, will go and get a colonoscopy. Of course, those with symptoms or with family histories can ask for a colonoscopy, but it is not a routine screening test here.

There is also this:

Early detection of cancer through screening saves lives, but by how much? - ABC News

This is an interesting review of the current understanding and clinical findings which looks at epidemiology, potential risk factors (both hereditary and non-hereditary) as well as incidence rates by geography:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10341111/

I very much doubt you were the first generation to get pissed on the regular!

it has very much been a change in women's drinking styles though (similar to the increase in women's lung cancer rates once it became acceptable for women to smoke)

It's a matter of fact that the regular consumption of alcohol by women increased in the 80s, as they took a more active role in the workforce and were more targeted by marketers.