Why Are Colorectal Cancer Patients Getting Younger?

 Colorectal cancer has been upending the lives of younger people at disturbing rates in recent years, becoming the second most common type of cancer in people under age 50 in the U.S. today. By 2030, deaths are expected to double, and the disease is predicted to jump to the leading cause of cancer death in 20- to 49-year-olds. On this episode, we talk about epidemiological factors behind the rise in cases, the age groups affected, symptoms people should be paying attention to, preventative screening options, and where the research is going to try to reverse this alarming trend. Our guest is Swati Patel, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk and Prevention Center.