Colorectal cancer death rates rising in Americans under 55: study

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Colorectal cancer mortality rates have been increasing in the United States among adults younger than 55 since the mid-2000s after falling for decades, a new report said Tuesday.

The rise was confined to white individuals and was not solely the result of more screening, according to the report, which appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For the study, investigators at the American Cancer Society analyzed colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality among persons aged 20 to 54 years by race from 1970 through 2014 using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, and the analysis included 242,637 people ages 20 to 54 who died of the disease during that time.

It found that CRC mortality rates among those aged 20 to 54 declined from 6.3 per 100,000 in 1970 to 3.9 in 2004, at which point mortality rates began to increase by 1.0 percent annually, eventually reaching 4.3 per 100,000 in 2014.

However, the increase was confined to white individuals, among whom mortality rates increased by 1.4 percent per year, from 3.6 in 2004 to 4.1 in 2014.

Among black individuals, mortality declined throughout the study period -- from 8.1 in 1970 to 6.1 in 2014 -- at a rate of 0.4 percent to 1.1 percent annually.

Among other races combined, mortality rates declined from 1970-2006 and were stable thereafter.

While mortality remained stable in white individuals aged 20 to 29 from 1988-2014, it increased from 1995-2014 by 1.6 percent per year in those aged 30 to 39 years, and from 2005-2014 by 1.9 percent per year for those aged 40 to 49 years and by 0.9 percent per year for those aged 50 to 54 years.

Conversely, rates declined in black individuals in every age group.

The researchers said that rising colorectal cancer mortality in people in their 50s was particularly unexpected because screening has been recommended starting at age 50 for decades.

"Although the risk of colorectal cancer remains low for young and middle-aged adults, rising mortality strongly suggests that the increase in incidence is not only earlier detection of prevalent cancer, but a true and perplexing escalation in disease occurrence," the American Cancer Society said in a statement.

"It is especially surprising for people in their 50s, for whom screening is recommended, and highlights the need for interventions to improve use of age-appropriate screening and timely follow-up of symptoms."