Overview

• A July 2025 review in the British Journal of Surgery shows early-onset gastrointestinal cancer rates climbing sharply across high-income and developing countries.
• In the United States, colorectal cancer incidence among adults under 50 rose from 5.9 to 8.4 cases per 100,000 between 2000 and 2017, with those born in 1990 facing double the colon cancer risk and quadruple the rectal cancer risk of 1950 cohorts.
• Centers for Disease Control data reveal a 185% increase in colorectal cancer among 20- to 24-year-olds and a 333% surge among 15- to 19-year-olds in recent years.
• Early-onset colorectal cancer has become the leading cancer killer of U.S. men under 50 and the second-leading for women, disproportionately affecting Black, Hispanic, Indigenous and Asian populations.
• Experts identify obesity, Western dietary habits, fatty liver disease, smoking and alcohol as key drivers and call for updated screening guidelines and deeper research into biological and care disparities.