An unexplained rise in colorectal cancer rates among younger adults is leading more people – including physicians – to get screened for the disease early, sometimes far ahead of the recommended age of 45 for those at average risk.
Scientists racing to find clues toward understanding why cases of colorectal cancer are climbing among younger people. Some suspect factors driving this increase are environmental, while others wonder if they are dietary.
One new study, to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in June, suggests that a young adult’s microbiome – the collection of microbes, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses that naturally live in human bodies – may play a role.