The Cutting Edge at ASCRS 2026 – Is Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer a Public Health Crisis?

Hinzugefügt: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]The way that we have historically dealt with sporadic colorectal cancers with screening, but now we're seeing this and it seems like the rate is rapidly progressing.

[00:00:08]It's not something where it's like, oh well, in 10 years of data we're going to be able to make some updated recommendations. [music] Do you feel that this is a, you know, a five-alarm fire where we should re-establish, you know, reconsider what our recommendations are for the age of starting a screening colonoscopy. I know we just lowered that slightly, but should we consider being more aggressive sooner? I think from a public health standpoint, I'm worried about decreasing the age too much because like you said, a lot of people come in when they're younger and they don't actually have cancer. They have irritation of their hemorrhoids. [music] They're having symptoms around their menstrual cycles.

[00:00:38]And so, as I talk with patients cuz one of the biggest questions I think you were bringing [music] up, Mark, is why.

[00:00:44]Why did this happen? Why why are there so many younger people that have this?

[00:00:48]And I start talking with patients [music] about I think it's a lot of what we ate. Like I am the same age as these people coming in and we ate a lot of box dinners. We ate a lot of processed foods and I think we're finally starting to see the downstream effects of that. You know, we know that some things increase your risk for colorectal cancer, processed foods, low-fiber diet, diets high in nitrates, smoked meats, unfortunately. I love smoked meats. Ditto. Ditto. Who doesn't?

[00:01:11][laughter] That's like a side hustle of mine. Is it cancer?

[00:01:14]Um you know, sedentary lives, low-fiber diet and so on and so forth. And so, >> [music] >> it's not a hard and difficult stretch to figure out that uh uh that uh those patients that are younger in age have those comorbidities and have those risk factors. I mean, that's the best I could come up with with the patients.