News & Events

2026

Rising rates of new colorectal cancer cases and deaths in younger adults

March 2, 2026 - American Cancer Society Tweet

Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in the United States and second leading cause of cancer-related death. In a new study from the American Cancer Society, authors use data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program to explore colorectal cancer statistics and trends in incidence, mortality, and screening across the U.S.

By 2022, the rate of new colorectal cancer cases had fallen by nearly half from its peak in 1985. The decrease in new cases comes mostly from fewer cases in older adults, who have higher rates of cancer. However, this decrease masks increasing rates of cases in younger adults. Almost half of all new colorectal cancer cases now occur in people under 65; in 1995, this age group accounted for only 27% of all new diagnoses. Specifically among people under 50, the rates of new cases increased by between 2% and 4% each year from 2013 to 2022. For this population, rates of cancer in the left side of the colon and rectum doubled from 1998 to 2022. Researchers are studying if gut inflammation from factors like ultraprocessed food and microplastics could explain these trends. The authors note that long-established colorectal cancer risk factors do not completely explain these newly emerging trends. For example, obesity and physical inactivity are more strongly associated with colon tumors, but recent increases are driven by rectal tumors.

Colorectal cancer screening saved over 742,000 lives between 1975 and 2020. Researchers attribute the marked decline in incidence since 2002 among Americans ages 65 and over to the Medicare coverage of screening, which began the year before. In 2021, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended starting age for colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45. The researchers found that about 65% of people 45 and older are up to date with colorectal cancer screening, which includes methods like colonoscopy and stool-based tests.

Short-term cancer survival worse during COVID-19 pandemic

February 5, 2026 - JAMA Oncology

According to the 2025 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, the rate of new cancer cases and deaths fell during periods of time that included the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a new study in JAMA Oncology found that people diagnosed with cancer between 2020 and 2021 had worse short-term survival compared to people diagnosed with cancer between 2015 and 2019. Data for both of these studies came from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program.

To separate out deaths caused by COVID-19 from deaths caused by cancer, the authors of the recent JAMA Oncology publication used a metric called “cause-specific survival” from the SEER database. Cause-specific survival (CSS) measures the length of time from either the date of diagnosis or the start of treatment for a disease, such as cancer, to the date of death from the disease. Before the pandemic, the 1-year cause-specific survival increased each year from 2015 to 2019 for both cancers diagnosed in early and late stages. This means, each year, more people were alive 1 year after their cancer diagnosis.

The authors used SEER*Stat software to analyze population-based data. Between 2020 and 2021, more than 1 million people covered by SEER registries were diagnosed with cancer, and over 140,000 died within 1 year of diagnosis. Cases reported outside SEER-covered areas were not included in this analysis. The authors further examined stage at diagnosis and 1-year survival among cancers diagnosed in SEER-covered areas, grouping 2020 and 2021 diagnoses into early- and late-stage disease. In both groups, the 1-year cause-specific survival was lower than expected, breaking from the increasing trends from 2015 to 2019. While it is difficult to determine what specific causes of the decline in survival rates, the researchers note COVID-19 related healthcare disruptions affected the timeliness of cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The researchers estimate that these disruptions led to 17,390 excess cancer deaths in the first year of diagnosis between 2020 and 2021.

Lifetime drinking patterns influence colorectal cancer risk

January 26, 2026 - American Cancer Society

According to a report from the Surgeon General in 2025, alcohol use is a leading preventable cause of cancer and contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths each year. The report also indicates that alcohol can cause cancer in at least 7 specific sites of the body, mostly in the digestive system. Authors of a recent study in the journal Cancer used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial to estimate the association between average lifetime drinking habits and current drinking status with the risk of developing colorectal cancer by anatomic site.

The PLCO followed nearly 155,000 participants between 55 and 74 years from 1993 to 2001 and collected survey data about participant cancer risk factors, including alcohol use during defined age ranges. The researchers defined drinking patterns as either light, moderate, or heavy, using current sex-specific US Dietary Guidelines. Female drinkers were either light (7 drinks or less per week), moderate (7 to 14 drinks per week), or heavy (more than 14 drinks per week). Male drinkers were either light (14 drinks or less per week), moderate (14 to 21 drinks per week), or heavy (more than 21 drinks per week). The researchers confirmed cancer outcomes through SEER and CDC registries through 2017.

The researchers found that higher lifetime alcohol intake, particularly heavy drinking, was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. For rectal cancer specifically, the risk among heavy drinkers was nearly double. However, current moderate drinkers showed a lower risk of developing tumors in the distal (left) colon. Former moderate to heavy drinkers were not at higher risk of developing colorectal cancer compared with consistently light drinkers, suggesting that reducing or stopping alcohol use may lower risk over time.

Risk-based breast cancer screening strategies may save more lives

January 20, 2026 - JAMA Network

Many factors, including lifestyle, diet, age, and genetics, contribute to our risk for developing cancer. When doctors think about cancer screening standards for the general population, one of the simplest ways to group people into risk categories is by age. But, age may not tell the whole story about a person’s specific risk for developing cancer. Today, women and their doctors can use tools like the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) risk calculator to better understand their risk of getting breast cancer in the next five years. In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, researchers used Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) to model different screening strategies for breast cancer that include additional risk factors beyond just age.

The researchers compared these risk-sensitive simulation models to the current breast cancer screening guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, which makes recommendations for health care services like cancer screenings. The risk-sensitive models used factors from the BCSC calculator, like family history of breast cancer and breast density, to group women into different risk categories. Women who fell into low-risk groups received screening less often than women in high-risk groups. The simulations also updated each woman’s risk every 5 years as she aged. Based on the simulated outcomes, the researchers found risk-based breast cancer screenings could save the same or more lives and had fewer false positives compared to the current age-based screening guidelines.

2025

Childhood cancer survivors may need additional colorectal cancer screening

December 17, 2025 - Journal of Clinical Oncology

Advances in cancer prevention, screening, and treatment have saved and extended lives. For example, among children, the 5-year survival rate for all cancer sites combined is now greater than 85%. However, cancer treatment itself carries risks, including a higher risk of cancer later in life. With this higher risk, childhood cancer survivors will need a different cancer screening strategy compared to the strategies for the rest of the population. Less than half of childhood cancer survivors are up to date with current screening guidelines. Researchers, supported partly by the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET), examined different screening strategies for colorectal cancer among childhood cancer survivors treated with abdominal radiation therapy.

The researchers used SimCRC, one of the National Cancer Institute-funded CISNET models, to simulate both the natural progression of colorectal cancer and different screening timings and methods within this cancer population as they age. Without screening, which includes methods like colonoscopy or stool testing, childhood cancer survivors treated with abdominal radiation therapy between 25 and 45 years old were over 3 times more likely to get colorectal cancer compared to people who did not have childhood cancer. After analyzing the data from these simulations, the researchers compared screening strategies based on cost and number of deaths prevented. The optimal screening strategy included either one colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 30, or stool testing once every three years starting at either 25 or 30 years depending on the specific test.