Colon Cancer: No Longer a Disease of Older Adults
Heidi Rula, MD
Medical Director of the Supportive Care Services Department
Colon cancer is a disease most young adults feel they will not need to worry about until they get older and certainly not something they need to concern themselves within their 20’s, 30’s or 40’s. But a worrisome trend in colon cancer rates is proving this theory wrong. Since the 1990s, the rate of colon cancer in people younger than 50 has doubled.
Not only are more young adults being diagnosed with colon cancer, but we are seeing more young adults die from this cancer. The world was shocked this year when we lost Chadwick Boseman, the famous actor who starred in the “Black Panther” movie. He was in his late 30’s when he was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer and died from the disease at the age of 43.
