Dr. Peter Liang: Rise in Colon Cancers in the Young

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Peter Liang discuss the rise in colorectal cancer among younger people, those below the age of 50. While colorectal cancer is a slow-growing cancer, it is still the third most common cancer for both men and women, and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Due to the trend of decreasing age in colorectal cancer patients, screening guidelines have been lowered to 45, but can be done earlier as needed, based on risk factors. Dr. Liang emphasizes the importance of screening, diet, exercise, and awareness of family history in preventing and detecting colorectal cancer early.

Key Takeaways:

• Colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer in both men and women. It is the second leading cause of cancer death behind lung cancer.

• Early-onset colorectal cancer is traditionally defined as occurring in people under age 50. However, there is a rise in people in their 40s, though some (though they are a minority) are in their 20s or 30s.

• Colorectal cancer is unique due to the number of different tests available for screening for prevention.

• Colorectal cancer is a slow-growing cancer. A single polyp can sometimes take 10-20 years to develop into cancer.

• There is no evidence correlating constipation with colorectal cancer. If people want to do juices or fasts or colonics, that is fine, but there is no medical need to do it.

• If you have symptoms that are concerning, tell your doctor. Sometimes you do need to advocate for yourself to get additional testing.

"Any test that is not a colonoscopy and is abnormal does need to be followed by a colonoscopy. How we prevent Colorectal cancer is by going in with the colonoscopy, removing polyps (which can turn into cancer), or by finding the cancer early, so that your prognosis is much better." — Dr. Peter Liang

Connect with Dr. Peter Liang:

Professional Bio: https://med.nyu.edu/faculty/peter-s-liang

Website: https://med.nyu.edu/research/liang-lab/

Connect with Therese:

Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net

Threads: @critically_speaking

Email: [e-mail]

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