Colorectal cancer rates are rising in young people. What does that mean for detection and surgical treatment options?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/colorectal-cancer-rates-rising-young-people-nucac/ Diagnostic and surgical approaches to treating the disease are evolving—just as rates are spiking. Here’s how the surgical landscape will continue to shift alongside the alarming trend. Back in 2004, Shekar Narayanan, M.D., a colorectal cancer surgeon, treated a 21-year-old woman with early stage colorectal cancer. The patient had a minimally invasive procedure to remove a tumor a few years earlier, but the cancer had returned. Back then, colorectal cancer was considered rare in young adults, so it was common to take a more conservative approach to staging and treatment in this age group. Dr. Narayanan performed a colectomy—an invasive procedure in which a large part of the colon is removed—and created a colostomy, requiring the young patient to use a colostomy bag. Just three years later, at age 24, the cancer had metastasized. By age 25, the patient had died. Treatment for colorectal cancer has come a long way since then. Today, says Dr. Narayanan, that patient would have likely had her lymph nodes removed and examined at the outset instead of relying on a minor surgical procedure. But despite these advances in understanding and treatment, there’s still a long way to go: Colorectal cancer is steadily rising among people in their 20s and 30s, and colorectal cancer surgeons like Dr. Narayanan are screening, testing and treating more young adults than ever before.1 And while diagnostic and treatment approaches continue to advance, the rising rates mean that innovation is crucial to keep pace.