By David L. Snelling

A surge in collateral cancer/colon cancer diagnosis for people under the age of 50 have ecologists and researchers scrambling to zero in on risk factors that usually affect older generations.

For the past several years, colon cancer was the No. 2 cause of death in people ages 54 and older, as a reported 300,000 succumbed to the deadly disease in the U.S. last year.

But doctors and researchers are sounding the alarm as colon cancer is found in people under the age of 50, the lowest at 32 years-old.

The American Cancer Society reported that eating excessive ultra processed meats such as bacon, sausage, hotdogs and deli meats, drinking, smoking and alcohol and lack of exercise increase cancer risk by 39 percent.

But some medical experts suggest people under the age of 50 diagnosed with colon cancer might be linked to a toxin in the gut known as colibactin.

Colibactin is produced by harmful species of gut bacteria, including the common foodborne illness E. coli, and the toxin can inflict damage on colon cells, leading to colorectal cancer.

Blacks are at a higher risk for developing colon cancer than any other race, according to the American Cancer Society.
African Americans are about 20 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer, and about 40 percent more likely to die than most other groups.

The disparity in risk factors are socioeconomic status, lack of access to healthcare for screening to detect the disease in its early stages and treatment, smoking, excessive alcohol and processed meats consumption and an unsafe environment.

The death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the superhero Black Panther and baseball great Jackie Robinson in the movie 42, from colon cancer in 2020 at the age of 43 sent shockwaves through the Black community and film industry.

Doctors and researchers were scrambling for answers on how a healthy, relatively young man died from colon cancer.

“Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the country,” said Durado Brooks, M.D. vice president of prevention and early detection at the American Cancer Society. “This disease is ravaging the Black community, and it is as important as ever that everyone has access to and is receiving the recommended screenings. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, necessary screening tests remain available to prevent the disease or find it at an early, more treatable stage.”

Brooks said but while colorectal cancer isn’t as common in people under the age of 50 as it is in older individuals, it’s not as uncommon as many people might think.

She said in 2026, about 12 percent of colorectal cancers, about 18,000 cases, will be diagnosed in people under the age of 50 in the US.

What’s more, while rates of colorectal cancer have been falling in older age groups in recent years, they’ve actually been rising among young people.

 

Researchers in Florida and beyond are studying the possible link between colon cancer and colibactin which they say is increasing the diagnosis in people under the age of 50.

 

“Not every environmental factor or behavior we study leaves a mark on our genome,” Ludmil Alexandrov, a professor at U.C. San Diego and a member of the school’s Moores Cancer Center, said in a statement. “But we’ve found that colibactin is one of those that can. In this case, its genetic imprint appears to be strongly associated with colorectal cancers in young adults.”

The American Cancer Society is suggesting individuals get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercises a week to improve gut health.

 

In addition, consuming just one serving of probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut and sourdough bread can help increase levels of good bacteria in the gut and destroy harmful bacteria by producing acid.

 

These foods also fight the harmful inflammation that causes chronic diseases like cancer.

Adding plenty of anti-inflammatory fiber to the daily diet is beneficial, too. Fibrous foods like bell peppers, bananas, oats and asparagus serve as a prebiotic: food for the good bacteria in your gut.

 

Fiber might protect against a range of harmful bacteria including E. coli.