Are cancer deaths falling while colorectal cancer rises in young adults?

other primary study · 2020 · landmark

“Overall, cancer death rates decreased 1.5% on average per year during 2013–2017, decreasing 1.8% per year among males and 1.4% per year among females.”

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, part I: National cancer statistics. Cancer
Who: US population; cancer deaths from the NCHS National Vital Statistics System and new diagnoses from CDC- and NCI-funded population-based registries compiled by NAACCR
PMID 32162336

other primary study · 2022 · landmark

“CONCLUSIONS Cancer death rates continued to decline overall, for children, and for AYAs, and treatment advances have led to accelerated declines for several sites, such as lung and melanoma.”

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, part 1: National cancer statistics. Cancer
Who: US population; death certificate data from all 50 states and DC via the CDC National Vital Statistics System, and NAACCR registry incidence covering 92-99% of the US and Puerto Rico population
PMID 36301149

other primary study · 2011 · landmark

“Since the early 1990s, overall cancer death rates have shown a statistically significant decreasing trend among both men and women; whereas for children, cancer death rates have decreased since the mid-1970s (Table 2).”

Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975-2007, featuring tumors of the brain and other nervous system. J Natl Cancer Inst
Who: US population; incidence data from NCI, CDC and NAACCR registries and death data from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics
PMID 21454908

other primary study · 2021 · landmark

“Discussion The decline in overall cancer death rates in the United States has accelerated in recent years, largely driven by accelerated declines in lung cancer death rates.”

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, Part 1: National Cancer Statistics. J Natl Cancer Inst
Who: US population; death certificate data from all 50 states and DC via the NCHS National Vital Statistics System, and NPCR/SEER registry incidence covering 92-99% of the US and Puerto Rico population
PMID 34240195

other primary study · 2019 · landmark

“During 2012 to 2016, cancer death rates for all sites combined decreased 1.8% (95% CI = −1.8% to −1.8%) per year in male patients and 1.4% (95% CI = −1.4% to −1.4%) per year in female patients.”

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, Featuring Cancer in Men and Women Age 20-49 Years. J Natl Cancer Inst
Who: US population; NCHS National Vital Statistics System death data for all states and DC, and NPCR/SEER registry incidence covering 87.5-97.4% of the US and Puerto Rico population; special focus on adults aged 20-49
PMID 31145458

other primary study · 2025 · landmark

“Cancer death rates decreased by 1.3%–2.1% per year during 2001–2022, declining more among males than among females (Figure 1 , Table 5 ).”

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, featuring state-level statistics after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancer
Who: US population; death certificate data from all 50 states and DC via the CDC NCHS National Vital Statistics System, and NAACCR CiNA registry incidence covering 90-97% of the US and Puerto Rico population
PMID 40257373

trial or observed group · 2025 · landmark

“During the last decade, early-onset colorectal cancer incidence rates remained stable in 23 countries but increased in 27 countries with the fastest rises in New Zealand (AAPC 3·97% [95% CI 2·44–5·52]), Chile (3·96% [1·25–6·74]), Puerto Rico (3·81 [2·68–4·96]) and England (3·59% [3·12–4·06]).”

Colorectal cancer incidence trends in younger versus older adults: an analysis of population-based cancer registry data. Lancet Oncol
Who: Colorectal cancer diagnoses in adults aged 25-49 vs 50-74 years from 135 population-based registries (WHO-IARC CI5plus) in 50 countries and territories
PMID 39674189

systematic review · 2020 · landmark

“Altogether, we found an increasing incidence of yCRC with a worldwide pooled APCi of + 1.33 (95% CI, 0.97 to 1.68; p < 0.0001), that is largely driven by increasing incidence in the USA, Australia, and Canada with reported overall APCi’s up to + 7.9 (95% CI, 1.1 to 15.1) [ 26 ] and nearly 30% increased incidence over 20 years [ 4 , 6 ].”

Trends in the epidemiology of young-onset colorectal cancer: a worldwide systematic review. BMC Cancer
Who: Peer-reviewed observational studies of young-onset colorectal cancer (mostly defined as under 50) trends in 12 countries across five continents
PMID 32252672

trial or observed group · 2026 · landmark

“Incidence in individuals 20–49 years (early onset) has risen by 1%–2% annually since the mid‐1990s driven mostly by advanced‐stage diagnoses and left‐sided tumors (Figures 4 and 5 ).”

Colorectal cancer statistics, 2026. CA Cancer J Clin
Who: US population; SEER and NPCR registry data compiled by NAACCR covering >99% of the population, plus NCHS death certificate data
PMID 41769777

other primary study · 2024 · landmark

“In brief, our findings indicated that the incidence and prevalence rates of EO-CRC exhibited an upward trend, while the mortality and DALYs rates demonstrated a downward trajectory from 1990 to 2021 globally.”

Global burden and cross-country health inequalities of early-onset colorectal cancer and its risk factors from 1990 to 2021 and its projection until 2036. BMC Public Health
Who: Modelled GBD 2021 estimates of early-onset colorectal cancer (age 15-49 years) in 204 countries and territories
PMID 39533235

other primary study · 2026 · landmark

“In summary, we detected an overall increasing incidence of early-onset CRC in all 4 countries, with a decreasing incidence or plateauing of late-onset CRC, consistent with a cohort effect.”

Increase of early-onset colorectal cancer: a cohort effect. J Natl Cancer Inst
Who: Colorectal cancer cases in adults aged 20-74 (early onset 20-49) from CI5plus high-quality registries in Australia, Canada, England and the United States, by sex
PMID 40848248

other primary study · 2017

“The overall age-standardized incidence of CRC significantly increased from 2.1 to 4.8 per 100,000 AYA population between 1982 and 2007, APC = 3.0 (95% CI 0.7–5.5), p = 0.024 (Table 1 ).”

Increasing Incidence of Colorectal Cancer in Adolescents and Young Adults Aged 15-39 Years in Western Australia 1982-2007: Examination of Colonoscopy History. Front Public Health
Who: Adolescents and young adults aged 15-39 years with incident colorectal cancer registered with the Western Australia Cancer Registry, linked to hospital and death records
PMID 28791283