Well, many people associate colon cancer with old age, but that's not the case anymore,

as the number of young people being diagnosed is on the rise.

PBS NewsHours Dima Zane reports on the latest research and patients' experiences.

The number of young people being diagnosed with cancer is on the rise, and that includes colon cancer, which many people associate

with old age, but not anymore, says Dr. Andrea Sersik, head of the colorectal section at Memorial

Sloan Kettering. Normally for colon cancer patients, they were in their 60s, 70s, or 80s, and

then all of a sudden we were seeing this influx of young adults.

I never thought that I would have cancer because I was like just young 26 years old, you know,

and it was heartbreaking.

In estimated 154,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer in 2025,

according to the American Cancer Society. One in five are young, under the age of 55.

M. Taz Hussein is one of them.

He never thought colon cancer would affect him, especially at such a young age.

The first time I got my bleeding, I should have gone to colonoscopy.

Because I ignored that I got my, I started bleeding

seven months prior to I got diagnosis. Katie Stanley was a young new mother when she started

noticing changes in her body. For a few years, her symptoms were passed off as related to having

children. At that time, I was having so many issues. All I needed was an answer, and I feel like I was just getting kind of brushed off as it being something else.

While many factors have been associated with the rise in cancer diagnoses, the exact reason still needs more research, Sersik says.

We think it's likely what we call sort of environmental factors or a combination of environmental

factors, change in our lifestyle, our diets, what we're ingesting in addition to kind of

processed foods, high sugar, antibiotics, exposure to certain things like microplastics.

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