With colon cancer on the rise among younger Americans, researchers are working to figure out why.

A new study suggests the microbiome — the community of microorganisms in the body — may play a role.

“Younger people with colorectal cancer have more biologically aggressive cancers and whatever survival benefit they have by being younger is outweighed by the more aggressive tumo...

Maintaining a healthy weight may be important for reducing the risk of gastrointestinal cancer, a new study suggests.

The research adds to the evidence that excess weight and weight increases in adulthood increase the risk for colon and other gastrointestinal (GI) cancers.

“In a time when obesity rates are rising globally and 70% of the U.S. population alone is considered overwe...

Four symptoms could provide early warning of colon cancer in younger adults.

Being aware of these red flags could lead to earlier detection and diagnosis for those under age 50, said researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The telltale symptoms are abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhea and iron deficiency anemia.

The death rate from colon canc...

Financial stress and work lost to cancer treatment affects patients and their partners alike.

Partners also experienced pain, fatigue and sleep issues owing to these fiscal worries, a new study found.

“We know that financial toxicity or hardship is a signifi...

Tatiana Gonzalez had just quit her job as a postal carrier, and with it the 12 miles a day she walked as she delivered people's mail.

So Gonzalez, then 39, figured that was why she suddenly became so constipated that she required laxatives to go to the bathroom.

“I thought to myself, maybe it has to do with because I'm not doing exercise anymore,” she said. “But in a couple of...

The children of women who took a common anti-nausea drug for pregnancy in the 1960s and 1970s may be at higher risk of colon cancer, according to a new study.

The drug, dicyclomine, is used to treat spasms caused by irritable bowel syndrome. It was also initially included in Bendectin, a drug prescribed during pregnancy starting in the 1960s to prevent nausea and vomiting.

“Our fi...

Colon cancer continues to rise among younger U.S. adults, with the American Cancer Society reporting a doubling of cases in people younger than 55 in about 25 years.

Also, significantly more Americans are being diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease, the cancer society says.

As of 2019, 20% of colon cancer cases occurred in adults under age 55 -- up from just 11% in 1995, acc...

Many people undergo a stool test to screen for colon cancer but a new study finds too few follow up with a colonoscopy when that test warns of a possible cancer.

Not following up undermines the point of screening, said study-co-author Jeff Mohl, director of research and analytics for the Amer...

Black patients are more likely than their white peers to need emergency surgery for colon cancer, which increases their risk for complications and death, study authors say.

"Overall, these results suggest that racial and ethnic differences persist" among colon cancer patients, and "these differences likely contribute to disparities in postoperative outcomes among these groups," said firs...

Americans are eating more whole grains than ever before -- but it's still not enough.

Moreover, not everyone agrees on what whole grains actually are, according to a new study that found competing definitions.

The increase in whole grain intake over the past two decades is either 39.5% or 61.5%, according to researchers from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science ...

Are you an older man worried about your risk for colon cancer? Eating whole grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes may improve your odds of dodging the disease, new research shows.

“Although previous research has suggested that plant-based diets may play a role in preventing colorectal cancer, the impact of plant foods' nutritional quality on this association has been unclear," said stu...

Getting regularly scheduled, moderate physical activity can help extend the lives of people with colon cancer, according to a new study.

Exercise is even helpful for obese cancer patients, reducing inflammation and improving the bacterial communities of the gut's microbiome, the findings showed.

"Inflammation is a key process that drives colorectal cancer. We know a high BMI [body m...

The latest statistics from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) show a continuing decline in the number of Americans who die from cancer, although there's been little change in the number of new cancer cases.

"From 2015 to 2019, overall cancer death rates decreased by 2.1% per year in men and women combined," according to a statement issued by the NCI on Thursday.

The biggest d...

Many guys love a breakfast plate piled high with sausages and maybe a sugar-glazed danish on the side. Now, research shows that wolfing down too many ultra-processed foods like these could be bad news for a man's colon.

Specifically, men who consum...

Dropping a load of pounds through weight-loss surgery can significantly decrease your risk of developing or dying from cancer, according to three new studies.

Obese folks who underwent bariatric surgery were at least two times less likely to develop certain types of cancer and more than three times less likely to die of cancer than heavy people who didn't get the procedure, according to a...

A blood test could save some colon cancer patients from getting unnecessary chemotherapy following surgery, while making sure that those who would benefit from the treatment get it, researchers report.

The circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) test looks for minute amounts of genetic material that are released by...

Millions of U.S. women missed breast, cervical and colon cancer screenings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study.

It found that compared to 2018, the number of women in 2020 who said they had breast cancer screening in the past year fell by 2.13 million (6%). The number of women who ...

Race and ethnicity matter when battling colon cancer, with young white patients facing notably better odds than Black, Hispanic or Asian patients, new research warns.

A look at colon cancer survival among Americans younger than 50 turned up a glaring discrepancy: Survival five years after diagnosis improved to nearly 70% among white patients over two decades, but was less than 58% among B...

Many people who are overweight or obese avoid cancer screening for fear of stigma and judgment about their weight, British researchers report.

In a review of 10 published studies, researchers found that many doctors around the world don't look kindly on patients with obesity, an attitude that can affect tre...

Colonoscopies in younger women can significantly cut their risk of colon cancer, a new study claims.

"While there's been an alarming increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer in recent decades in younger individuals, screening has largely been focused on people over 50," noted seni...

The introduction of HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy) in the mid-1990s revolutionized the treatment of HIV/AIDS, halting disease progression and dramatically extending lives.

Now, a small new study suggests another potential use for one of the standard HAART medications: It halted disease p...

After surviving cancer, many older women suffer severe leg swelling that interferes with everyday life, a new study finds.

About one-third of older women develop this chronic condition - called lymphedema - after treatment for colon, uterine or ovarian cancer, according to the study.

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Taller people have a higher risk of colon cancer than shorter folks, and researchers say height should be considered when it comes to screening for the disease.

For the new study, the research team at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore analyzed data from 47 international studies that included more than 280,000 cases of