British Medical Journal
Published January 23, 2026
Colorectal Cancer: Deaths Rising in Under 50s But Mystery of What’s “Driving This Tsunami” Remains
Deaths from colorectal (bowel) cancer are increasing in people under 50s in the US, the only one of five leading cancers to do so, an analysis suggests. Researchers from the American Cancer Society examined changes in cancer mortality in the US between 1990 and 2023, focusing on the five leading causes of cancer death among under 50s: leukemia and brain, breast, lung, and colorectal cancer.
They found that 1.27 million people died of cancer before the age of 50 over that period, but that the age standardized death rate had decreased from 25.5 to 14.2 per 100 000, a drop of 44%. But looking at each of the five cancers separately, they found that mortality had declined for all except one— colorectal cancer. It rose from the fifth most common cause of cancer death between 1990 and 1994 to the most common in 2023.
People age 45 to 49 years make up 50% of cancer diagnoses that occur in those under 50, so increased screening uptake would prevent disease as well as death.