Colon cancer rose by 51.4 percent and rectal cancer by 37.6 percent over the one year age difference. Researchers also examined the stage at which cancers were caught and found a rise in localized and regional cancers that would require surgery and possibly chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The authors assert that rates for undetected and detected early onset colorectal cancer together for 45 to 49-year-olds may actually be similar to that of individuals in their early 50s.

"Our data supports that the incidence of colorectal cancer increases substantially among individuals in their early 50s compared with individuals in their late 40s, not because rates are truly lower among those aged 45 to 49 years, but because colorectal cancers are present but undetected until diagnosed when screening is ultimately initiated," said Karlitz.


The study was limited in its population-based design, which hindered determining which patients had cancer detected at age 50 through screening versus diagnostic testing.

"Nevertheless, the significantly high rate of invasive cases supports that almost all cancers accounted for in the rate increase from age 49 to 50 required aggressive treatment, regardless of how they were detected," said Karlitz.

The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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