Latest news with #colorectal cancer
Fox News
a day ago
- Health
- Fox News
Actor with colorectal cancer shares simple sign that he ignored: ‘I had no idea'
James van der Beek has revealed the first warning sign of his colon cancer — and it's one that did not seem alarming at the time. The "Dawson's Creek" actor, 48, who announced his colorectal cancer diagnosis in November 2024, recently told Healthline that "there wasn't any red flag or something glaring." "I was healthy. I was doing the cold plunge," he said. "I was in amazing cardiovascular shape, and I had stage 3 cancer, and I had no idea." The one symptom that he did experience was a change in bowel movements, which the actor chalked up to an effect of his coffee consumption. "Before my diagnosis, I didn't know much about colorectal cancer," van der Beek said. "I didn't even realize the screening age [had] dropped to 45; I thought it was still 50." He ultimately underwent a colonoscopy, which revealed that the actor had stage 3 colon cancer. Professor Eitan Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., an oncologist and founder of The Suzanne Levy-Gertner Oncogenetics Unit at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, confirmed that changes in bowel habits is the primary red flag that should raise the suspicion of colorectal cancer. Others include fatigue as a result of anemia, blood in stool, weight loss, loss of appetite and abdominal discomfort, Friedman, who has not treated van der Beek, told Fox News Digital. "I was in amazing cardiovascular shape, and I had stage 3 cancer, and I had no idea." Dr. Erica Barnell, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-scientist at Washington University School of Medicine — and co-founder and chief medical officer at Geneoscopy — noted that van der Beek's experience of having no "glaring" signs is common. "Many colorectal cancers develop silently, without obvious symptoms," Barnell, who also did not treat the actor, told Fox News Digital. "By the time symptoms appear, the disease may already be advanced." Symptoms are "especially worrisome" for those 45 and older who have at least one first-degree relative with colon cancer or other GI malignancies, and those with active inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, added Friedman, who is also an advisory board member at SpotitEarly, a startup that offers an at-home breath test to detect early-stage cancer signals. The overall chance of an average-risk person getting colorectal cancer over a lifetime is 4% to 5%, according to Friedman. "Colonoscopy at age 45 onwards, at five- to 10-year intervals, has been shown to lead to early detection of polyps that have the potential to become malignant, and to allow for their removal as an effective means of minimizing the risk of malignant transformation," he said. Unfortunately, Barnell noted, "screening compliance in the U.S. remains below national targets, and gaps are widest in rural, low-income and minority communities." To help close those gaps, she called for greater access to "accurate, noninvasive screening technologies," along with efforts to increase public awareness. "Most people don't like talking about bowel habits, but paying attention to changes can save your life," Barnell said. "Screening gives us the chance to find problems early — often before you feel sick — and that can make all the difference." For more Health articles, visit Fox News Digital reached out to van der Beek's representative for comment.
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Does Getting Fit Guard Against Colorectal Cancer?
Evidence continues to mount that building cardiovascular fitness can help lower an individual's risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). The latest study — a sweeping analysis of 643,583 individuals, with more than 8000 cases of CRC and 10 years follow-up — found a consistent, inverse, and graded association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and the risk for the development of CRC — a benefit similar for men and women and across races. CRC risk was 9% lower for each 1-metabolic equivalent (MET) task increase in CRF, objectively measured by an exercise treadmill test. When assessed across CRF categories, there was a progressive decline in CRC risk with higher CRF, Aamir Ali, MD, and colleagues with Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC, found. Compared with the least fit individuals (METs, 4.8), the CRC risk was 14% lower in those falling in the low-fit CRF category (METs, 7.3), 27% lower for moderately fit people (METs, 8.6), 41% lower for fit individuals (METs, 10.5), and 57% lower for high-fit individuals (METs, 13.6). Moderate CRF is attainable by most middle-aged and older individuals, by engaging in moderate-intensity physical activity such as brisk walking, which aligns with current national guidelines, the authors said. The study was published online on July 28 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The results dovetail with earlier work. For example, in the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study, men with high mid-life CRF had a 44% lower risk for CRC and a 32% lower risk of dying from cancer later in life men with low CRF. A recent meta-analysis for the World Cancer Research Fund estimated a 16% lower risk for colon cancer in people with the highest levels of recreational physical activity relative to those with the lowest levels. A recent UK Biobank analysis using accelerometers linked higher daily movement to a 26% reduction in risk across multiple cancers, including bowel cancer. Taken together, the data suggest that 'the more you exercise, the better your overall health is going to be — not just your cardiac fitness but also your overall risk of cancer,' Joel Saltzman, MD, medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland, noted in an interview with Medscape Medical News . Can You Outrun CRC Risk? In the US, CRC is the second leading cause of cancer mortality, accounting for 51,896 deaths in 2019. The economic burden of CRC in the US is significant, topping $24 billion annually. And while the incidence of colon cancer has decreased in older individuals during the past 3 decades, the incidence in younger adults has nearly doubled during the same period, 'underscoring the limitations of screening programs and the critical need for risk factor modification,' Ali and colleagues wrote. 'There is good evidence that exercise and healthy lifestyle/diet have significant benefit overall and as well for some potential risk reduction for colon cancer,' David Johnson, MD, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology, Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, told Medscape Medical News. 'There are clearly suggestions of why this makes sense via the beneficial effects of exercise and physical activity in CRC pathways including but not limited to regulation of inflammation and aberrant cell growth/cancer pathways,' Johnson said. He emphasized, however, that exercise and lifestyle are not the best way to prevent CRC. 'Appropriate screening, in particular by colonoscopy (by skilled physicians who meet high-quality performance national benchmarks) to detect and remove precancerous polyps, is the best approach for prevention,' Johnson said. 'At this point — albeit exercise is potentially helpful and a great general recommendation — my most current advice as an expert in the field, is that you cannot outrun CRC risk,' Johnson said. Can You Outrun CRC Recurrence? Prevention aside, the data thus far are even more supportive of risk reduction for patients who have had CRC and are targeting reduction of recurrence, Johnson said. Perhaps the most compelling study was recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The CHALLENGE trial enrolled patients with resected stage II or III colon cancer who had completed their adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with recurrences within a year of diagnosis were excluded, as they were more likely to have highly aggressive, biologically active disease. Participants were randomized to receive healthcare education materials alone or in conjunction with a structured exercise program over a 3-year follow-up period. The focus of the exercise intervention was increasing recreational aerobic activity over baseline by at least 10 METs — essentially the equivalent of adding about 45-60 minutes of brisk walking or 25-30 minutes of jogging three to four times a week. At a median follow-up of nearly 8 years, exercise reduced the relative risk for disease recurrence, new primary cancer, or death by 28% ( P = .02). 'This benefit persisted — and even strengthened — over time, with disease-free survival increasing by 6.4 and 7.1 percentage points at 5 and 8 years, respectively,' Johnson noted in a Medscape commentary. The CHALLENGE results are 'very compelling,' Bishal Gyawali, MD, PhD, associate professor of oncology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, noted in a separate Medscape commentary. 'If you compare these results with results from other trials, you'll see that this is a no-brainer. If this were a drug, you would want to use it today,' Gyawali said. Saltzman told Medscape Medical News patients often ask him what they can do to help prevent their cancer from coming back. 'I would sort of say, 'Well, eat a healthy diet and exercise,' but I didn't have a lot of good evidence to support it.' The CHALLENGE study provides 'the proof in the pudding.' With these strong data, 'it almost feels like I should be able to write a prescription for my patient to join an exercise program and that their insurance should cover it,' Saltzman said.
Daily Mail
04-08-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Study: Reason behind increase in colon cancer among young people
Advertisement Colon cancer incidence rates in the US surged by almost 50 percent in a year, a new study has revealed. An investigation by the American Cancer Society (ACS) found that after a stable 15-year trend, diagnoses of local-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) rose dramatically in adults aged 45 to 49 years old between 2019 and 2022 in the US. From 2021 to 2022, there was a 50 percent relative increase in diagnoses from 11.7 to 17.5 cases per 100,000 people. Local or early stage indicates the cancer is confined to the original site where it started, has not spread to other areas of the body and usually has no symptoms. If colon cancer is detected and treated in its early stages, the five-year survival rate is approximately 90 percent, while it is around 60 percent if it is diagnosed in its advanced stages. The cost of treatment also dramatically increases, with early-stage colon cancer costing around $40,000 to treat, while advanced stages can exceed $300,000. The study's lead author Elizabeth Schafer put the rise in early-stage colon cancer cases down to recommendations for younger average-risk adults to begin testing for earlier. While the disease is known to be linked to obesity, experts have noted that the disease also seems to also be occurring in fit and healthy patients. Some experts believe the explanation must lie in environmental factors young people have been exposed to more than previous generations. While no 'smoking gun' has been found, there are multiple theories. These include modern chemicals in diets, microplastics, pollution, and one recent study even pinned the surge on exposure to E. coli in food . The recommended age to begin CRC screening was lowered from 50 to 45 years by ACS in 2018 and the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) followed suit in 2021. The US already has a lower colon cancer screening age than some other Western nations, including Canada — where it is set at 50 years — and England — which lowered the age from 60 to 50 years in 2021. Early onset colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men under 50 and the second-leading cause for women under 50 in the US. Over 50,000 Americans are expected to die from colorectal cancer this year, while 150,000 are predicted to be diagnosed with the disease. For the recent ACS study, published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , researchers analyzed CRC cases diagnosed from 2004 to 2022 among adults 20 to 54 years old in the 21 geographic areas of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Cases were sorted by age, where the cancer was located, and stage at diagnosis. Results showed that CRC incidence increased steadily by 1.6 percent annually since 2004 among adults 20 to 39 years old and by two percent to 2.6 percent per year since 2012 among adults 40 to 44 and 50 to 54 years old. However, in people 45 to 49 years old, an increase of one percent annually during 2004 to 2019 accelerated to 12 percent per year from 2019 to 2022. This steep increase was driven by the detection of early, local-stage tumors, which increased from 2019 to 2022 by 19 percent per year for colon cancer after previously stable rates and by 25 percent per year for rectal cancer after declining rates. Advanced-stage disease has continued to increase steeply over the past two decades. Incidence of advanced CRC increased from 1.7 to 2.9 percent annually since 2004 among adults under 45 years old and even more rapidly during the past decade in ages 45 to 54. In support of these findings, another ACS led study also published today in JAMA reports that CRC screening among US adults 45 to 49 years of age increased by 62 percent from 2019 to 2023. 'It's not only thrilling to see the increase in colorectal cancer screening among younger adults, but also how it likely ties into rises in earlier stage diagnosis as noted in the other ACS led paper,' said lead author Jessica Star, an associate scientist of cancer risk factors and screening surveillance research at the ACS. 'However, we still have a long way to go. Screening for colorectal cancer in ages 45-49 remains suboptimal and has not increased equitably by both educational attainment and insurance status.' For this study, scientists analyzed the data of more than 50,000 individuals from the National Health Interview Survey, comparing changes in CRC screening from 2019 to 2023 within age groups 40 to 44; 45 to 49; 50 to 54; 55 to 64; and 65 to 75 years old. The data were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and region. The researchers found up-to-date CRC screening was up 20 percent in 2021 and 37 percent in 2023. The study results showed that among 45- to 49-year-olds, colonoscopy screening increased by 43 percent and stool-based testing increased more than five-fold from 2019 to 2023. Screening increased significantly from 2019 to 2023 in every racial and ethnic group, but remained unchanged among individuals with less than a high school education and those who were uninsured. 'These studies further demonstrate the importance of people having access to comprehensive health insurance, which covers evidence-based preventive services,' said Lisa A. Lacasse, president of ACS's advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). 'With more than 2 million people in America expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2025, it's more important than ever to make sure that everyone can access necessary screenings. 'ACS CAN will continue to advocate at the state and federal level to expand access for all because it isn't just good policy, it's lifesaving.'
The Sun
17-07-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Warning as cases of deadly GI cancers in the under-50s surge at ‘alarming rate' – are you at risk?
CASES of deadly gastrointestinal cancer are rising at "alarming" rates worldwide, scientists warn. They said obesity, unhealthy diets and lack of exercise were fuelling this surge in early-onset cancer. The study - published in JAMA - called for more to be done in preventing and spotting the diseases early. The gastrointestinal (GI) tract extends from the mouth to the anus and is involved in digesting, processing and excreting food. It includes several organs such as the stomach, liver, pancreas, intestine, colon and rectum. Scientists have recently sounded the alarm over rising rates of bowel cancer - also referred to as colorectal cancer - in younger people. But researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston warned this doesn't capture the full picture - as less common forms of GI cancer are increasingly being spotted in under 50s. Dr Kimmie Ng, senior author of the new study and director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber, said: 'Colorectal cancer is the most common early-onset GI cancer worldwide, accounting for more than half of the cases, but it is not the only GI cancer that is rising in younger adults. "Unfortunately, pancreatic, gastric, and esophageal cancers are also increasing in young people. 'The rising incidence of early-onset GI cancers is alarming and underscores the need for enhanced prevention strategies and early detection methods.' In the US, cases of GI cancer are increasing faster than any other type of early-onset cancer, including breast cancer, researchers warned. The most common types of gastrointestinal cancers are: Oesophageal cancer Gastric (stomach) cancer Colorectal (bowel) cancer Pancreatic cancer Liver cancer Both the UK and US have screening programs to spot early signs of bowel cancer, though not for other GI cancers. In the UK, bowel cancer tests are automatically offered to people aged 50 to 74 who are registered with a GP. In the US, people are screened for bowel cancer from the 45 - though only one in five adults aged 45 to 49 attended screenings in 2021. Co-author Dr. Thejus Jayakrishnan said: 'Screening adherence is absolutely critical. 'We have strong evidence that colorectal cancer screening saves lives by reducing both the number of people who develop colorectal cancer and the number of people who die from it. "Each missed screening is a lost opportunity to detect cancer early when it is more treatable, or to prevent cancer altogether by identifying and removing precancerous polyps." A similar review published by Dana-Farber researchers earlier this month studied the rise in GI cancers in 20 countries. In Europe, the worst increase is among people in their 20s, with a 7.9 per cent increase over 12 years. Meanwhile, an 185 per cent jump was reported in Americans aged 20 to 24 years by the Centers for Disease Control. The number of newly diagnosed cases of early-onset GI cancers rose by 14.8 per cent between 2010 and 2019, according to the review, mostly affecting women and people of colour. GI cancers were highest in people aged 40 to 49 – but the rise in rates was steeper in younger groups. For example, people born in 1990 are twice as likely to develop colon cancer and four times as likely to develop rectal cancer compared to those born in 1950, according to the study authors. What's behind the rise in cancers? It is not clear what is driving the rising rates of gastrointestinal cancers in young people, but there are common risk factors across gastrointestinal cancers. Factors that people can manage with lifestyle changes include obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, the consumption of processed foods, alcohol use, and smoking. According to Dana-Farber researchers, heavy alcohol use doubles the risk of stomach cancer, while obesity nearly doubles the risk of bowel and pancreatic cancers. Smoking also increases the risk of these cancers. Sara Char, a medical oncology fellow at Dana-Farber, said: 'One of the best things you can do for your health is to stop smoking. 'Reducing alcohol use and incorporating lifestyle changes such as getting regular excise and minimising processed foods are also positive choices.' Conditions such as fatty liver disease, diabetes, and acid reflux also can increase the risk of different gastrointestinal cancers. 'It is important for patients to stay up to date with primary care and to be actively engaged in preventive medicine related to these and other risk factors,' Dr Char added. Researchers found that inherited genetic mutations may also increase the risk of GI cancers. These were more common in people with early-onset cancers, compared to patients who got cancer later. But most early-onset cancers weren't associated with an inherited mutation. Instead, they seemed to be brought on by a mutation that occurred sporadically - likely triggered by an environmental factor - according to the research. 'Lifestyle factors such as obesity, a Western-pattern diet including a lot of processed foods, and a sedentary lifestyle are likely contributing to a lot of early onset cases,' said Catherine O'Connor, a medical student at Harvard Medical School, explained. Dr Ng said: 'Taken together, these two reviews are a call to action for further research on why rates of GI cancers are increasing in younger adults. 'There is currently limited data available, especially in pancreatic, gastric, and oesophageal cancers. "This comprehensive look at what data exist can help raise education and awareness which is important because as a collective group, digestive system cancers account for a significant proportion of cancer-related deaths in younger adults in the US and around the world.' Bowel cancer screening Bowel cancer screening is a test you do at home that checks for signs of bowel cancer. It's currently offered to everyone aged 54 to 74, but soon people aged 50 and up will qualify. If you're aged 54 to 74 and registered with a GP, you'll automatically get a bowel cancer screening home test kit through the post every two years. The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is used to look for blood in a sample of your poo. You collect the sample at home and send it by post to be tested. It can help find cancer early, and before you have any symptoms, which may mean it's easier to treat. To do the FIT kit: Write the date on the sample bottle. Use a clean container to catch your poo. Do not let your poo touch the toilet water. This can be a bit difficult, and you may need to try a few times. Open the sample bottle and remove the lid, which has a sample stick attached. Gently scrape the end of the sample stick along your poo until all the grooves are covered. Only a small amount is needed. Put the sample stick back into the sample bottle and close the lid tightly. Wash your hands. Check you've written the date you did the sample on the sample bottle. Put the sample bottle in the envelope included in your test kit and seal it. Post the envelope with your sample as soon as you can. Postage is free and you do not need a stamp. Source: NHS
