Jenna Scott still remembers the joy of learning she was pregnant with her first child. She also remembers something else — the relentless abdominal pain that followed her through pregnancy. Doctors told her it was normal, a routine part of carrying a baby. “It comes with the territory,” they said.
But after she delivered a healthy son, the pain never faded. It lingered, day after day, until more than a year later her life changed in an instant. At just 31 years old, Scott was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
“When I woke up from the colonoscopy, the room was full — my husband, my doctor, nurses everywhere,” she recalled. “The doctor said he didn’t even need the lab results to know it was cancer.”
By then, the disease had already spread from her colon to her liver.
“I was active, athletic, careful about what I ate,” Scott said. “Cancer wasn’t part of my world. To me, cancer meant death.”
A Quiet but Dangerous Shift
Scott’s story is no longer rare. It reflects a growing and deeply troubling trend across the United States.
New research shows that while most cancer deaths among young adults are falling, colorectal cancer is moving in the opposite direction. In fact, Young adult cancer deaths decline overall, except for colorectal cancer — a sentence that now captures one of the most alarming changes in modern cancer patterns.
Since 2005, deaths from colon and rectal cancer in people under 50 have risen by about 1.1% each year. Once a relatively uncommon cause of death in this age group, colorectal cancer is now the leading cancer killer among younger Americans.
“Nearly every major cancer is declining in young adults,” said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal of the American Cancer Society. “Colorectal cancer is the one major exception — and we still don’t fully understand why.”
No Longer an “Old Person’s Disease”
For decades, colorectal cancer was viewed as an illness of later life. That assumption no longer holds.
Between 1990 and 2023, more than 1.2 million Americans died of cancer before turning 50. During that time, overall cancer death rates in this age group dropped by nearly half. Deaths from breast, brain, leukemia and lung cancers all declined.
But colorectal cancer defied the trend.
By 2023, it had become the top cause of cancer deaths among people under 50, ahead of breast and brain cancers.
“We were stunned by how quickly it rose to number one,” Jemal said. “This can’t be considered a disease of older adults anymore.”
Late Detection, Higher Risk
One major reason behind the rising death toll is delayed diagnosis.
Routine screening for colorectal cancer usually begins at age 45. For younger patients, testing often happens only after symptoms appear — and by then, the disease is frequently advanced.
More than six in ten patients under 50 are diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4.
“By the time many young adults are diagnosed, the cancer has already spread,” said Dr. Andrea Cercek of Memorial Sloan Kettering. “At that point, outcomes are much harder to improve, even in very healthy people.”
Doctors also say early symptoms are often brushed aside.
“Providers may assume it’s hemorrhoids, stress, or digestive trouble,” said Dr. Y. Nancy You of MD Anderson. “Those delays can be deadly.”
Warning Signs Too Often Overlooked
Common symptoms include:
Blood in the stool or rectal bleeding
Ongoing abdominal pain or cramping
Persistent changes in bowel habits
Fatigue or weakness
Unexplained weight loss
A constant urge to use the bathroom
Yet many young adults postpone care — or are reassured too quickly.
“Some patients were running marathons months before diagnosis,” said cancer epidemiologist Christine Molmenti. “They look healthy. They feel fine. Then suddenly, they’re facing stage 4 cancer.”
Screening Saves Lives — But Uptake Is Low
Experts agree that screening remains the most powerful tool for prevention.
Regular testing can detect cancer early and even remove precancerous growths before tumors form. Screening now begins at age 45 for people at average risk.
Still, fewer than four in ten adults aged 45 to 49 are up to date.
“Screening doesn’t just catch cancer early,” Jemal said. “It stops cancer from developing in the first place.”
Living With Cancer, Holding Onto Hope
After years of chemotherapy, surgery and targeted treatment, Jenna Scott’s cancer is currently stable. She continues therapy, knowing that each pause has brought the disease back.
Through it all, she holds onto a simple dream.
“I want to live long enough to become a grandmother,” she said.
Now she speaks out to warn others — especially young people who never imagine cancer could touch them.
“How do you prevent something when no one knows what causes it?” she asked. “But we have to stop this rise in deaths.”
A Call to Act
Nearly 60 Americans under 50 are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every day — about one every 25 minutes.
Doctors say the message is clear: youth is not protection.
Pay attention to your body. Take symptoms seriously. And when you reach screening age, don’t wait.
Because even as young adult cancer deaths decline overall, except for colorectal cancer, that one exception is reshaping the future — and far too many lives are being lost along the way.
