Here's why that's actually good news.
After years of concern over rising colorectal cancer rates in younger adults, the American Cancer Society is reporting progress: more people in their late forties are being diagnosed earlier, when the disease is at its most treatable.
The August 2025 study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that after a steady 15-year plateau, between 2019 and 2022 diagnoses of early-stage colorectal cancer “rose steeply” among adults ages 45 to 49—jumping 50% from 2021 to 2022 alone. Early-stage cancers are confined to the colon or rectum and often don’t cause symptoms, meaning detection occurs through screening, rather than at the point when illness has progressed.
“It is promising news because the uptick of cases is likely due to first-time screening in the wake of new recommendations for younger average-risk adults to begin testing for colorectal cancer earlier,” said Elizabeth Schafer, MPH, associate scientist, surveillance and health equity science, and lead author of the study via press release.
Indeed, a second 2025 American Cancer Society-led study published alongside the first confirms that screenings among 45- to 49-year-olds have surged—up 62% from 2019 to 2023. Colonoscopy use grew by 43%, while stool-based testing increased by more than five times. (Increasingly, some health systems are offering at-home stool testing kits as a first-line diagnostic to potentially circumvent the need for colonoscopy—making testing less invasive and more convenient.) These trends suggest that greater awareness and updated screening guidelines are making a measurable impact.
Jessica Star, MPH, MA, associate scientist, cancer risk factors and screening surveillance research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of that study, describes the increase in screening as “thrilling,” but cautions that access to screening remains uneven: “We still have a long way to go. Screening for colorectal cancer in ages 45 to 49 remains suboptimal and has not increased equitably by both educational attainment and insurance status,” she said. This could be interpreted to mean that the lacks of adequate healthcare coverage and awareness are still limiting access to screening for many Americans.
An important part of the puzzle is knowing when to get started. According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, “People at average risk for colorectal cancer start getting screened at age 45,” while those with a personal history, family history, polyps, or genetic mutations that increase risk are among the groups that should be screened sooner.
Memorial Sloan Kettering notes you are considered of “average risk” if you have:
- No symptoms.
- Never had colorectal cancer. Your close family members related to you by blood (parents, siblings, or children) have never had the disease.
- Never had polyps (growths that are not cancer but can become cancer) in your colon or rectum.
- Never had inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s colitis.
In 2024, University of Texas Health reported that colorectal cancer now the leading cause of cancer death among men under 50; while the American Cancer Society calls it “the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States” excluding skin cancers.
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