alt Hacker NewsIs "colorectal cancer" rising in "young people"?
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Human biology is such a horror...I've been through it with enough loved ones that I've been left with two obsessions: a) a dignified way to go when my time comes, and b) we should either fix human biology, go post-biological, or simply surrender as a species and be replaced by AI. I know there are many counter-arguments to the above, but I've come to suspect the integrity of our species' rationality under the savage ravaging of Dog.
> Yes, if you are currently young, you face higher CRC risk than previous generations did when they were young. That’s the bad news.
Unlike the usual Bettridge's law, the answer to the headline is only a qualified "No".
It is a "So is all other cancers!", which is pretty bad news for folks who are young and healthy right now.
I recommend getting a colonoscopy if you have any symptoms. There is a lot of stigma that prevents people from being proactive about this type of issue.
My anecdote (M, 35) is that I got one after experiencing symptoms that turned out to be unrelated, but they did find pre-cancerous polyps so now I will be getting them more regularly. I received received meaningful early detection and peace of mind. Also aside from the prep, its a very convenient procedure. You get put under anesthesia and do a quick time travel.
Nice to have a good data-based take on this question make it to the front of HN!
One of our better microscopes these days is DNA sequencing, especially for cancer, and the particular base mutations and the sequences in which they occur give heavy clues about the types of mutagens that are going on. The DNA damage from UV radiation from the sun and bulky adduct repair from smoking damage are vastly different. Even when cells have a defect in a repair mechanism, you can tell which repair mechanism is broken based on the particular base changes in which context.
A study from 2025 reapplied these Alexandronv signatures to colorectal cancer with a global set of cohorts, and suggests that colibactin, a mutagen produced by some strains of E. coli and related bacteria, could be driving some of the increase in early age colorectal cancer:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09025-8
Of course we don't know exactly how much of the increase, or the other explanations; causality is multi-causal and I bring this particular cause up because it's one of the stronger leads so far. But when we've lost our keys in the night, even if its easiest to look under the light of the streetlamp, that doesn't mean its the only place we might find them.
People should be reminded that colonoscopy is not just a screening, it is also preventative. They often find growths that may develop into cancer, and remove them during the procedure.
All this talk about different groupings (and overlapping kinds of time) makes me think of Simpson's Paradox [0], where how we slice things can be very important to what trend we see.
> We don’t yet know if colonoscopies are better than other methods of screening
My Gastroentrologist told me just recently that the stool test (Cologuard) is very accurate but must be repeated every 3 years as opposed to getting a Colonoscopy which should be repeated every 7 to 10 years
FYI there are other options besides a full scope for screening now, especially if you are low risk
Is "medical term" used "appropriately"?
Yes. Nothing to see here. And stop abusing quotation marks.
Personally I am hesitant to do colonoscopy after a relative had a botched procedure. Just this month two celebrities revealed botched colonoscopies. I hope they figure out ways to make this procedure safer.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/kathy...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/202...
Also increased, or we're now aware of, higher rates in long distance runners.
Well turning off P53 had nothing to do with it. It is anything but vaccines.
Get it done!
But not at Kaiser.
$17k later…
Maybe they're all running too many marathons.
Very good visualization repair. I particularly appreciate the TL;DR at the end. In a world of mostly bad popular medical advice this seems competent and at least facially correct.
I guess cancer is the new climate denial
Did you miss the BILLIONS in lawsuits against RoundUp and other herbicides?
Did you miss all the deregulation by the first and now second Trump administration allowing crazy levels of pollution and toxicity among all the industries?
They are still using leaded fuel in prop aircraft at hundreds of airports around the country and world, spraying it on unknowning population
Our environment has never been more dangerous yet people never more ignorant or carefree
Had my first colonoscopy 4 months ago, after going for a couple of years with every red flag symptom under the sun.
The procedure was a piece of cake. As the standard is where I'm from (Norway), I was only administered some sedatives - but honestly I couldn't feel much difference. I watched the procedure on the screen, which was quite fascinating.
The worst part, by far, was the emptying / prepping. A month prior to the colonoscopy I took a stool sample (negative for blood), but my doc wanted to be safe.
In the end they nothing was found, not even polyps.
EDIT: I had put of going to it for the longest time, but a friend of mine (35 years old) was diagnosed with stage 4 last year, which pushed me to get it checked out. He had experienced prolonged constipation, that's it. When the tumor was found, the cancer had spread to both of his lungs and liver. He's still alive, and fighting it.