• The Age of Colon Cancer in the World has become Younger
  • Zahra Amirkhani,1 Aidin Amini Sefidab,2 Ali Movassagh,3 Ali Rezaeian,4,*
    1. Student Research Committee, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran
    2. Student Research Committee, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran
    3. Student Research Committee, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran
    4. Student Research Committee, Larestan University of Medical Sciences, Larestan, Iran


  • Introduction: One of the most common gastrointestinal cancers is colon cancer . Over the last two decades, the age of incidence of colon cancer has decreased. Colon cancer has steadily increased among young people in the U.S. over the past two decades, with teens having the highest rates of cancer. Between 1999 and 2020, the rate of colon cancer among children aged 10 to 14 years has increased by 500%. The cancer has increased by 333% among adolescents aged 15 to 19 and 185% between 20 and 24. Colon cancer is no longer merely perceived as a disease of the older population. The purpose of this review study is to focus on the causes of decreasing the age of colon cancer.
  • Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search for relevant studies in PubMed, Scopus, and SID databases, as well as the Google Scholar search engine. The advanced search keywords included " Colon cancer " Young adults "" Daily habits " Children " .The search was restricted to studies published in English with accessible full texts. Review articles, duplicates, and non-relevant studies were excluded.
  • Results: According to the 1999-2020 Colon Cancer Trends calculation for people aged 10 to 44 years, the results show that colon cancer rates have increased among children and young adults. Among adolescents aged 10-14 years, 0.6 children per 100,000 children were diagnosed with colon cancer in 2020, which was only 0.1 children per 100,000 in 1999. Diagnoses in people aged 15 to 19 increased from 0.3 to 1.3 per 100,000 people and between 20 to 24 years from 0.7 to 2 per 100,000. The most common symptoms of colon cancer are constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, and symptoms of iron deficiency anemia. Colon cancer risk factors include a family history of colon cancer. Other known risk factors include obesity, smoking, cigarettes and hookah, alcohol consumption and drug use , and diet. Suspected risk factors include lack of physical activity, antibiotics, and food additives.
  • Conclusion: Colon cancer is one of the most important preventable cancers, colon cancer screening should start in all people from the age of 50 with colonoscopy, and if a person has a family history of colon cancer or high-risk polyps, this screening should start at the age of 40. A healthy diet includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, whole grain breads, dairy products, fish, nuts, and garlic. Consumption of processed foods such as fast foods, sausages and sausages and processed meats increase the risk of gastrointestinal cancer, modifying daily habits aerobic physical activity such as cycling, walking and running is very useful and can be useful in reducing the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers. It is recommended to do at least 150 minutes weekly, i.e. 5 sessions of 30 minutes per week.
  • Keywords: Colon cancer, Children, Young adults, Daily habits