Dramatic rise in gastrointestinal cancers in people under 50
Gastrointestinal cancers, such as colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, 'represent the most rapidly increasing early-onset cancer in the US,' researchers wrote in a review published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Thursday.
Colorectal cancer, which develops in the colon or rectum, was the most common among early-onset gastrointestinal cancers in the U.S. in 2022, with just over 20,800 people diagnosed.
There were 2,689 diagnoses of Gastric cancer, which develops in the stomach lining, that year, followed by 2,657 diagnoses of pancreatic cancer and 875 diagnoses of esophageal cancer.
There has been a dramatic rise in gastrointestinal cancers in people under the age of 50, according to a new review (Getty Images)
Most early-onset gastrointestinal cancers are linked to risk factors that could be changed, such as obesity, poor-quality diet, and a somewhat inactive lifestyle. Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol are other risk factors.
'It's really what people were doing or exposed to when they were infants, children, adolescents that is probably contributing to their risk of developing cancer as a young adult,' Dr. Kimmie Ng, the review's co-author and director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, told NBC News.
There are also risk factors that patients don't have control over such as family history and hereditary syndromes. People with early-onset colorectal cancer could have inflammatory bowel disease.
Researchers wrote in the review: 'The prognosis for patients with early-onset GI cancers is similar to or worse than that for patients with later-onset GI cancers, highlighting the need for improved methods of prevention and early detection.'
The American Cancer Society recommends people at average risk of colorectal cancer start regular screening at the age of 45. Before 2018, the ACS recommended screenings start at the age of 50.
'It never used to happen in this age group, and now a very significant rise in 20-, 30- and 40-year-olds are getting colon cancer,' Dr. John Marshall, chief medical consultant at the nonprofit Colorectal Cancer Alliance, who was not involved in the review, told NBC News.
It's still unclear why young patients with gastrointestinal cancers could have worse survival rates than older patients.
'My personal feeling is that it's because we're finding them at a more advanced stage, because people don't really think of colon or other GI cancers when they see a young person with these nonspecific complaints,' Dr. Howard Hochster, director of gastrointestinal oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute and RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey, who was not involved in the review, told NBC News.
But Ng said even when taking the stage of cancer into account, young patients still seem to have worse survival rates, and questioned whether there's a biological reason.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Entrepreneur
an hour ago
- Entrepreneur
LISSUN Acquires Being Cares to Strengthen Family-Focused Mental Health Services with AI
As part of the acquisition, Being Cares' Co-founders Varun Gandhi and Abhishek Sharma will join LISSUN as Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Mental health platform LISSUN has acquired US-based mental wellness company Being Cares in a move aimed at integrating advanced artificial intelligence into family-oriented mental healthcare. The acquisition brings together LISSUN's therapist-led services with Being Cares' intelligent mental health mapping model, enabling a comprehensive, tech-driven approach to care. Being Cares currently supports nearly one million users across the globe through an AI-based system that monitors over 40 mental health conditions. These include anxiety, depression, burnout, and parenting-related stress. The system analyses more than 2,500 causes and effects to offer personalised mental health insights. LISSUN plans to further adapt this model to address child-centric issues such as autism, ADHD, speech delays, and learning difficulties. As part of the acquisition, Being Cares' co-founders Varun Gandhi and Abhishek Sharma will join LISSUN as Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively. "This is not just an acquisition. It marks the beginning of a complete reimagining of how mental healthcare can support entire families," said Tarun Gupta, Co-founder of LISSUN. "With Being's AI and our clinical expertise, we are building a system that addresses families' concerns from the very first signs, offers digital guidance, and seamlessly transitions into in-person care when needed." Founded in 2021 by Krishna Veer Singh and Tarun Gupta, LISSUN operates a hybrid mental health model that spans psychiatry, rehabilitation, infertility and maternity support, and child development. Its child-focused initiative, Sunshine by LISSUN, launched in June 2023, provides developmental and behavioural therapy for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. To date, Sunshine has delivered more than 30,000 therapy hours and supported over 10,000 children across 20 centers. Varun Gandhi, CEO and Co-founder of Being Cares, added, "Joining LISSUN felt like coming home. Our goal was always to build an empathetic, intelligent assistant that families could trust. With LISSUN, we now have the infrastructure, therapists, and shared values to bring this dream to life." Looking ahead, LISSUN plans to expand the Sunshine network to over 200 centers within the next two to four years. The company also intends to deploy its AI assistant Ray across platforms such as WhatsApp to provide real-time, personalised support to parents navigating their child's mental health. The firm emphasised that while this acquisition is a significant step forward, it remains open to collaborating with early-stage mental health startups developing innovative solutions.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
This Five-Cent Meme Stock Just Made Up 15% of US Trading Volume
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of tiny Healthcare Triangle Inc. stood out as the most actively-traded name on US exchanges on Thursday, another example of how investor exuberance is fueling wild gyrations throughout the equity market. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom The little-known healthcare information technology company saw its stock price more than double to just above five cents, with over 3 billion shares changing hands. That was equivalent to about 15% of the total shares traded on US exchanges for the day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. After surging 138% at the open, Healthcare Triangle's shares closed up 115%, with no apparent news to spark the eye-popping move. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The total value of shares traded for the day stood at approximately $150 million, nearly seven times the company's market capitalization. The surge was among the latest manifestations of the meme stock mania that has sparked rallies in speculative names, with Kohl's Corp., GoProInc. and Krispy Kreme Inc. among the list of companies whose shares have seen big moves. Shares of Opendoor Technologies, which shot higher on Monday, were also notable for massive trading volumes. While the number of stocks being drawn into the frenzy is growing, the rallies have been volatile and often short lived, raising questions about whether the companies will be able to take advantage of their elevated share prices to raise fresh capital, the way that AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and GameStop Corp. did during the original meme stock craze of 2021. Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border How Hims Became the King of Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio


Fox News
14 hours ago
- Fox News
Do you really need three meals a day? Experts debate the traditional rule
Breakfast, lunch and dinner have been a staple regimen for diet and nutrition — but is it necessary for overall health? Statistics show that most Americans (64%) consume three meals daily and 28% consume two meals — but some may struggle to hit three meals a day, while others prefer smaller, more frequent meals. Serena Poon, a certified nutritionist and longevity wellness advisor based in Los Angeles, said she considers the concept of three meals a "more cultural convention" than a "biological necessity." "There's no magic in 'three meals a day,'" she told Fox News Digital. "What matters is the quality of your food, the timing of your meals, and how well both align with your unique biology and lifestyle." "A flexible routine, such as two nourishing meals and a snack, or three well-balanced meals eaten within a 10- to 12-hour window, has strong scientific backing and fits comfortably into most modern schedules." A 2024 review published in JAMA found that lower meal frequency, earlier calorie distribution and time-restricted eating led to greater weight loss and metabolic improvements than the traditional three-meal pattern, Poon pointed out. "From a nutrition and metabolism perspective, what you eat matters more than when you eat." In another study published this year in Nature Medicine, overweight or obese adults who ate only during an eight-hour window "reduced visceral fat and cardiometabolic risk" just as effectively as standard eating. Extremely low frequencies of eating, such as one meal a day, can "heighten hunger and risk micronutrient gaps, so they require professional guidance," Poon warned. Lauri Wright, PhD, RDN, director of nutrition programs and associate professor at the USF College of Public Health, agreed that the idea of eating three meals a day is cultural, evolving largely from social norms, work schedules and industrialization rather than scientific evidence. "From a nutrition and metabolism perspective, what you eat matters more than when you eat for most people," she said. "Some individuals thrive on three balanced meals a day, while others do well with smaller, more frequent meals. What's important is meeting your body's nutritional needs across the day." Regular meals can help stabilize blood sugar, support energy levels and prevent overeating, especially for those who have conditions like diabetes or are prone to "energy crashes," Wright noted. "But there's no one-size-fits-all pattern," she said. "Skipping breakfast or consolidating meals, for example, can work for some people without negative health effects, as long as nutrient quality and total intake are adequate." "In short, three meals a day can be a helpful guideline, but it's not a strict requirement for health." Poon suggested that "personalization is key" when it comes to eating frequency, but most healthy adults thrive on an eight- to-12-hour eating window that begins within two hours of waking and ends at least three hours before bedtime. She also pointed to study data showing that eating within a 10-hour window for eight weeks improved appetite regulation, sleep quality and morning GLP-1 levels in young adults. People who rise early in the day may benefit from "front-loading" calories into breakfast and lunch, Poon suggested, while shift workers may function better with a later window. Those with conditions such as diabetes, eating disorder histories or pregnancy should ask their doctor about individualized diet plans. "Consider lifestyle, medical needs (like diabetes), age and preferences," Poon advised. "Some thrive on three meals, others on intermittent fasting or grazing — it's about consistency, nutrient quality and listening to your body." The expert also recommended paying attention to internal signals and hunger cues, like gentle stomach rumbling, a dip in focus or mild irritability. A meal should end at "comfortable satiety," or a feeling of satisfaction. "Intuitive eating practices have been linked to lower morning cortisol, better mental health and sleep scores, and improved mood metrics," she said. Instead of eating based on the clock, listening to authentic hunger and fullness cues will help maintain steady energy, sharpen focus and avoid last-minute, less-nutritious choices, Poon added. For more Health articles, visit "Whatever cadence you choose, keep the focus on whole foods, balanced macronutrients and nutrient-rich options," she recommended. "Most importantly, stay consistent in a pattern that honors your circadian rhythm, accommodates your social life and supports your personal health goals."