Prof Aminu Mohammad Sodiq Ojuroungbe Pathologists and paediatric surgeons have canvassed for enhanced efforts in early diagnosis and awareness of colon cancer across all age groups following a worrying increase in cases among teenagers. The experts are concerned that colon cancer, traditionally considered a disease of older adults, is now occurring with alarming frequency in younger age groups. In exclusive interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, the physicians emphasised the need for increased health education to promote awareness of potential warning signs, such as persistent abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits, unexplained weight loss, and rectal bleeding.
According to the World Health Organisation, colorectal or colon cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, accounting for approximately 10 per cent of all cancer cases and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. WHO The global health organisation said the disease predominantly affects older individuals, with the majority of cases occurring in people aged 50 and above. However, a recent study indicated a noticeable surge in colon cancer diagnoses among adolescents and young adults, challenging conventional assumptions about the age brackets susceptible to the disease.
The study, which was presented in May at the Digestive Disease Week 2024 conference, found that incidence rates of colorectal cancer in people aged 10 to 44, increased between 1999 and 2020, with the biggest jumps seen in those b.
