This study found that younger adults (under age 40) with colon or rectal cancer that has spread to other areas have a higher risk of disease progression and death compared to middle-aged patients (ages 57-61). Younger patients were 30% more likely to die and had a 28% higher risk of the disease spreading within a year. The oldest patients (over age 61) also had a higher risk of death and disease progression compared to middle-aged patients. Further research is needed to understand why colon cancer appears more aggressive in younger adults, but genetics, environment, and decreased early detection in younger groups may play a role. Doctors need to be aware of the worse prognosis in younger patients if the cancer has spread,

1. Colon Cancer Hits Younger Adults Especially
Hard, Study Finds
TUESDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Younger adults with colon cancer and rectal cancer that
has spread (metastasized) to other areas of the body have a higher risk of disease progression and
death than middle-aged patients, a new study finds.
Colon cancer and rectal cancer in elderly patients is also more aggressive than it is in the middleaged, the study says.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 20,000 patients who took part in 24 phase 3 clinical
trials for colorectal cancer. Patients younger than 40 years old were 30 percent more likely to die
from their disease than 57-year-old patients. And compared to 61-year-olds, patients younger
than 40 had a 28 percent higher risk of their disease progressing and spreading during a one-year
follow-up.
The investigators also found that the oldest patients had a 72 percent higher risk of death and a
19 percent higher risk of their cancer spreading than patients who were ages 57 and 61,
according to the study, which was presented Sunday at the 2013 European Cancer Congress in
Amsterdam.
Further research is needed to determine why colorectal cancer in younger patients appears to be
more aggressive, said study author Dr. Christopher Lieu, an assistant professor at the University
of Colorado.
"Although colorectal cancer occurs in only 4.6 percent of patients who are younger than 50, the
incidence of the disease has been increasing at a rate of 1.5 percent per year from 1992 to 2005
in this age group," he said in a European CanCer Organization (ECCO) news release.
"The most dramatic increases have been observed in the 20-29 year-old group, where there has
been an annual 5.2 percent increase in cases in men and a 5.6 percent increase in women, and in
the 30-39 year-old group, where there has been an annual 3 percent increase in men and a 2
percent increase in women," he noted.
The reasons for the increasing rates of colorectal cancer in younger adults aren't known, but
genetics, environmental factors, fewer early cancer detections in this age group or a combination
of these factors are thought to play a role, according to Lieu.
"While colorectal cancer overwhelmingly occurs in older people, we must not forget that people
younger than 50 can develop it too," Cornelis van de Velde, president of ECCO, said in the news
release.
This study "is important as it shows that these younger patients may have a worse prognosis if
their disease has metastasized," van de Velde added. "Doctors and patients need to be aware of

2. this so that they are alert to the early symptoms of colorectal cancer, and treatment can be given
before the disease has started to spread."
Data and conclusions presented at meetings are typically considered preliminary until published
in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Vimacel™ is part of an Integrative Medicine approach to treating people naturally. Integrative
Medicine combines alternative medicine with evidence based medicine.
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