Upcoming Conference Discusses Colon Cancer in Young Adults

On April 26 and 27, The Colon Cancer Foundation (CCF) is co-hosting its 4th Annual Early Age Onset Colorectal Cancer Summit with Northwell Health titled, “WHY: What Factors Are Driving the Increasing Incidence of Young Adult Colorectal Cancer — A “State-of-the-Science Review.”

This event will bring together leading clinicians, scientists as well as early-age-onset (EAO) colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors and Caregivers from across the country. The program will provide extensive opportunities for participants to advance their understanding of the rapidly increasing incidence of rectal and colon cancer among young adults under 50 years of age in the U.S. and abroad.

This groundbreaking program will, for a fourth year, provide all participants the opportunity to hear and question leading clinicians and researchers on the clinical care, epidemiology, pathogenesis, genomics and genetics of EAO-CRC. Important break-out sessions will also address the challenges of genetic testing, the importance of family health history ascertainment and the possible contribution of novel testing technologies in identifying young adult CRC patients at the earliest possible, most curable, stages of colorectal cancer.

The course will include lectures, workshops and panel discussions designed to advance the “state-of-the-science” addressing EAO-CRC. Our faculty will once again be world class speakers. With major additional inspiring programmatic contributions from the early-age-onset colorectal cancer survivor community of the United States and beyond.

"We are pleased to work with Northwell Health to address this emerging public health issue," said CCF President & Founder & Summit Chair, Thomas K. Weber, M.D., FACS. "The Summit offers a collaborative framework through which clinical researchers, young investigators and advocates can work to identify the possible causes of the increasing incidence of EAO-CRC, provide an evidence-based framework for reducing risk, increase early stage diagnosis and improve treatment and outcomes for young adult colorectal cancer patients.”

Recent literature led by Rebecca Siegel at the American Cancer Society has focused attention on the increasing incidence of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) among young adults (age 50 and younger) in the U.S. and beyond. Her February 2017 JNCI article comparing SEER data for a 1950 and 1990 birth cohort of young adults in the U.S. reported a doubling in the incidence of colon cancer and a quadrupling in the incidence for rectal cancer.

Importantly, extensive literature documents that the significant majority (80 percent plus) of these cases are not associated with the known hereditary CRC syndromes (Lynch, FAP or MYH). The clinical impact is significant with approximately 27,000 cases annually below the age of 55 and 15,000 below the age of 50. Late presentation, advanced stage diagnosis and poor outcomes characterize this emerging young adult cancer control challenge. The etiology and drivers of this increasing incidence remain unknown.

About The Colon Cancer Foundation (CCF):

The Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in New York State and listed by the Federal IRS as a public charity dedicated to reducing colorectal cancer incidence and death. Its mission includes: supporting research into the causes and cures for colorectal cancer; increasing public awareness; educating the public about the importance of early detection; and forming strategic partnerships in the fight against colorectal cancer.. For more information, please visit www.coloncancerchallenge.org