Concerning Rise in Colon Cancer Deaths is Almost Entirely Among Key Demographic

. . .Once considered a disease of older adults, colorectal cancer has now overtaken breast and brain cancers to become the leading cause of cancer deaths among Americans under 50.

But a new study suggests that the burden isn’t spread evenly, finding that deaths among younger adults are overwhelmingly concentrated in one group.

Researchers at the American Cancer Society analyzed government data on more than 101,000 adults ages 25 to 49 who died from colon and rectal cancers between 1994 and 2023. . .

The increase was driven almost entirely by people without a four-year college degree.

In this group, death rates climbed from about 4 to 5.2 per 100,000, while rates for those with at least a bachelor’s degree held steady at around 2.7 per 100,000.

Overall, the gap in death rates between people with a high school education or less and college graduates has nearly doubled since the mid-1990s. (Read more from “Concerning Rise in Colon Cancer Deaths is Almost Entirely Among Key Demographic” HERE)