Early-onset cancer

For decades, cancer was largely viewed as a disease that arrived later in life. It was something most people associated with aging, long-term habits, or inherited risk factors that accumulated over time. That assumption is becoming harder to defend. A growing body of research shows that cancer is increasingly affecting younger adults, particularly women. According …

Over the past two decades, doctors and researchers have observed a troubling shift: colorectal cancer is showing up more frequently in younger adults. Once considered a disease mostly affecting people over 60, colorectal cancer is now being diagnosed in individuals as young as their 30s—and sometimes even earlier. Today, roughly 1 in 5 new colorectal …