'In Good Health': Why Is Colorectal Cancer Affecting Generations Differently?

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NPR

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4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

Cases of colorectal cancer in young people have risen nearly 60 percent since the early 2000s. That’s according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute. And a new study out this month by the American Cancer Society found that colorectal cancer is now the deadliest kind for those younger than 50.

But this rise isn’t being felt across all generations in the same way. People born around 1990 are four times more likely to develop rectal cancer than those born around 1950. And for those 65 and older, colorectal cancer rates have actually decreased.

So, what’s going on? And what can you do to protect yourself and your gut health? For those answers and more, we turn to a panel of experts.

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0:00.0	Colorectal cancer cases in young people have risen nearly 60% since the early 2000s.
0:14.0	That's according to data from the CDC and the National Cancer Institute.
0:18.6	A new study out this month by the American Cancer Society underscores
0:22.0	this rise, finding that colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer for those younger than 50.
0:28.1	But the rise is generational. People born around 1990 are four times as likely to develop
0:33.9	rectal cancer than those born around 1950. And for those 65 and older, colorectal cancers have actually been decreasing.
0:42.3	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast.
0:45.5	Today for our latest installment of In Good Health, we ask, what's going on?
0:50.2	And what can we do to protect ourselves and our gut health?
0:53.1	We'll get to those questions and more
0:54.5	after this short break. Stay with us.
1:01.5	Welcome back to the One-A podcast. Let's get into our conversation about colorectal cancer and
1:06.3	meet our panel of experts. Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt is a gastrointestinal medical oncologist. He's also the co-director
1:13.0	of the Colon and Rectal Cancer Center and the chief clinical research officer at the Dana
1:17.5	Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Dr. Meyerhardt, welcome to the program. Thanks for having me,
1:22.6	Jen. Also with us, Dr. Mark Pochapen. He's the division chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at NYU Langen Health.
1:31.2	He's also a host on Sirius XM's Doctor Radio.
1:34.6	Dr. Pochapen, thanks for joining us.
1:36.7	It's so great to be here. Thanks for having me.
1:38.8	And also with us, Rebecca Siegel.
1:40.6	She's an epidemiologist and senior director of cancer surveillance research at the
1:45.0	American Cancer Society. Rebecca, welcome back. Thank you so much. Very happy to be with you.
	...

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