Pittsburgh-area surgeon says he's seeing more young people with colorectal cancer
A cancer once rare in young people has become the number one cause of cancer-related deaths for Americans under age 50.
At just 41, Colleen McGarrity joined the growing number of young people battling colorectal cancer, three years younger than the recommended colonoscopy screening age of 45.
"A year before that, I was having issues," McGarrity said. "I would feel like I would have to go to the bathroom and I couldn't go and then I would go and I was never satisfied."
She said that when she saw blood, she immediately went to the doctor. That's when Dr. James McCormick found stage 3 cancer.
"Now we're seeing people coming in on a weekly basis in their 20s and 30s and 40s with this diagnosis," said McCormick, chairman of Allgeheny Health Network's Colorectal Cancer Program. "This is something we can no longer assume is something that just affects older people."
A few years ago, the screening age decreased from 50 to 45, but Dr. McCormick says it's not enough. About three of four adults younger than 50 with this cancer are diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage, meaning reaction time to symptoms is crucial.
"If you have bleeding, if you have change in your bowel habits, change in the number of bowel habits or the consistency of them, and that persists for more than a few weeks," McCormick said.
Why this keeps happening to younger people is the critical question doctors are trying to answer.
"What we do know that is associated with it is the consumption of highly processed foods or ultra-processed foods, so we know that particular habit or lifestyle ... is associated with it," McCormick said. "The other thing we know is associated with it is obesity."
McGarrity considered herself healthy before, but she's cleaned up her diet. Now cancer-free after rounds of chemotherapy and radiation and multiple surgeries, she has this advice.
"I tell everybody if they have any issues, even if it is going to be IBS, go get tested," she said. "Go get a colonoscopy. It's not as bad as they make it out to be."
McCormick said sometimes this can be awkward to talk about. If you find that causes you to hesitate, there are great online resources from Allegheny Health Network.
