What are the colorectal cancer symptoms in young people? In the last few years diagnoses for this cancer among people under 50 they doubled. The data is from the American Cancer Society, which has asked all health institutions to anticipate the routine exams to those aged 45 and no longer aged 50 and over.
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Early diagnosis makes this cancer highly treatable
The good news is that if the cancer is discovered early it is treatable: The five-year survival rate for patients with early stage cancer is 91 percent. However, the risk of dying increases considerably when the disease is in an advanced stage. In the event of metastasis, the chances of survival drop to a dramatic 14 percent. This makes follow-ups crucial and means that anyone experiencing early symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.
Symptoms of colorectal cancer in young people common to various pathologies
The main problem is that the symptoms of colon cancer at a young age are similar alarm bells to many other intestinal problems, such as hemorrhoidal diseasethe irritable bowel syndrome of the Ragadi was. A research by the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis thought of making the list. The most frequent symptoms are essentially four according to the researchers at the US research center:
- abdominal pain,
- bleeding,
- diarrhea,
- low iron levels.
The results can be read in the scientific journal Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Colorectal cancer symptoms in young people: what did the US study find?
Experts stress that it is essential that this cancer is no longer considered a disease that affects the elderly. To achieve their goals, the group of scientists put under the magnifying glass more than 5,000 colorectal cancer diagnoses in people under the age of fifty, identifying the early symptoms, which had appeared between two years and three months before the diagnosis. The four symptoms we listed above were present in almost all patients.
But there’s more. The researchers explained that if there is only one of these symptoms, the risk of developing cancer doubles, compared to those who do not have it. If there are two symptoms, the risk rises by 3.59 times. When there are three symptoms, the risk increases by 6.52 times.
Never let your guard down
“In this analysis we found that some young adults had symptoms up to two years before their diagnosis. This may be one reason why many of these younger patients had more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis than we typically see in older people who are screened regularly.” Cassandra D. L. Fritz is the first author of the study.