As the number of cases of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosed before age 50 continues to rise, early detection has become increasingly important.
A new study has identified four signs and symptoms that can serve as red flags to facilitate earlier detection of early-onset CRC. The signs and symptoms are abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhea, and iron-deficiency anemia.
Two symptoms in particular ― rectal bleeding and iron-deficiency anemia ― point to the need for timely endoscopy and follow-up, the researchers say.
“Colorectal cancer is not simply a disease affecting older people; we want younger adults to be aware of and act on these potentially very telling signs and symptoms — particularly because people under 50 are considered to be at low risk, and they don’t receive routine colorectal cancer screening,” senior investigator Yin Cao, ScD, with Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, said in a news release.