Daily News | This NJ man was 31 when diagnosed with colon cancer, a disease on the rise among younger adults
, the disease is even more prevalent than in other parts of the country. Across all ages, the incidence rate is 39.7 cases per 100,000 people, compared to a national average of 36 cases per 100,000, according to an American Cancer Society report released Mar. 1.
“There is a clear relationship between colon cancer screening rates and the incidence of colon cancer,” said Ahmedin Jemal, a senior vice president at the American Cancer Society. “Why do young people have a higher rate? It’s squarely because their screening rates are very low.”Colonoscopies save lives, but many Americans don’t get one. Home tests could help change that.
Family history of the disease is the strongest risk factor researchers have identified so far. People with a first-degree relative — a parent, sibling or child — who has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer are up to four times as likely to develop the disease, the American Cancer Society has found.
Early stage colon cancer can be removed with minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. More advanced cancers may require removing a portion or all of the colon.For Rivers, despite beginning regular colonoscopies years before the recommended for average-risk adults, his cancer was already advanced when diagnosed in 2012. He needed his entire colon removed.
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