Rectal Cancer Rates Up in Young Adults

While colon cancer rates have not changed over the past several decades among people under age 40, rates of new rectal cancer have increased steadily, says a new study. This trend was seen is all races and in both sexes. Researchers looked at colon and rectal cancer rates from 1973 to 2005. They used data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results cancer registry. The rate of rectal cancer diagnosis rose 2.6% overall. Between 1984 and 2005, it rose 3.8% per year. The journal Cancer published the study online on August 23.