Colorectal cancer rates are climbing in nearly every adult age group in the United States, not only among younger adults, a new analysis has found.
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analysis → climb → adults
Medical groups have been sounding the alarm about the recent rise of colorectal cancer among younger adults in the US.
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groups → sound → US
Data from the American Cancer Society show incidence among adults aged 20-49 rose by 3% annually between 2013 and 2022.
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incidence → show → 2013
By 2026, the disease was the leading cause of cancer deaths in that age group.
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disease → lead → group
The new analysis of National Cancer Institute data looked at all ages up to 70.
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analysis → look → 70
Researchers found incidence fell from 55.2 per 100,000 in 2000 to 36.7 in 2022, before rising to 38.3 in 2023.
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incidence → find → 2023
“This is the first time that we have seen an increase in the overall rate in more than 20 years,” study leader Caitlin Murphy of the University of Chicago said in a statement.
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Murphy → see → statement
The steepest increase, 12.76% annually from 2019-2023, was seen in 45- to 49-year-olds.
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increase → see → olds
The researchers reported in NEJM Evidence that this was likely driven by more people undergoing colorectal cancer screening after US recommendations lowered the recommended age for the testing to 45 from 50.
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recommendations → report → 50
But the researchers said screening increases do not explain the overall rise in incidence or the rise in other age groups.
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increases → say → groups
That suggests unknown risk factors, including environmental ones, may be offsetting the gains made by screening.
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factors → suggest → screening
“That means that screening is doing as we intend it to do.
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it → mean → ?
It's catching cancer earlier,” Murphy said.
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Murphy → catch → cancer
A separate team of researchers has identified new clues to help explain why colorectal cancer is often more aggressive in younger patients.
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cancer → identify → patients
They analyzed 189 tumors from adults of all ages, looking for factors that changed gradually with age.
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that → analyze → age
Among tumors of the most common colorectal cancer subtype, younger patients' tumors had significantly more connective and supporting cells than cancer cells, the researchers reported in Nature Medicine.
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researchers → have → Medicine
That finding has been linked to chemotherapy resistance in several types of solid cancer.
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finding → link → cancer
Younger patients also had higher activity of long non-coding RNAs, molecules that can regulate genes without making proteins.
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that → have → proteins
Many are “dark” RNAs, whose functions remain largely unknown.
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functions → remain → ?
The researchers also saw gene activity suggesting stronger signaling between cells that can help cancer cells move and invade nearby tissue in younger patients.
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cells → see → patients
“While we’re still at the beginning of understanding what these differences mean, our work gives researchers a new direction to pursue in tackling this urgent problem in human disease,” study co-author Ana Anderson of Harvard Medical School said in a statement.
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Anderson → ’re → statement
A combination of two targeted therapy drugs can dramatically improve survival for certain patients with newly diagnosed advanced kidney cancer, data from a midstage trial suggests.
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data → target → trial
The trial testing the two drugs was launched before therapies known as immune-checkpoint inhibitors became the preferred treatment for such patients.
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therapies → test → patients
Checkpoint inhibitors such as Merck's Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo cannot be used by patients with autoimmune diseases.
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inhibitors → use → diseases
The 51 patients in the trial all had clear cell renal carcinoma that had spread throughout the body by the time it was first detected.
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it → have → time
They received Votrient (Novartis) and Roche's ROPC.S Avastin on an alternating basis.
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They → receive → basis
Both drugs block the action of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, which promotes the growth of new blood vessels that can supply the tumor with oxygen and nutrients.
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that → block → oxygen
Votrient's effect on VEGF weakens over time, while Avastin actually removes VEGF from circulation.
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Avastin → weaken → circulation
Patients survived a median of 63.2 months, researchers reported in The Lancet Oncology.
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researchers → survive → Oncology
That included 24.8 months during which their disease did not worsen.
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disease → include → which
By comparison, when Votrient is given alone as the first-line treatment for patients with previously untreated metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, overall survival ranges from 28.4 to 29.3 months.
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survival → give → months
A particularly strong benefit was seen in the 33 trial participants who were considered “favorable-risk” based on their underlying health status.
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who → see → status
In this group, median progression-free survival, the time before the cancer began to worsen, reached 28.5 months, the researchers found.
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researchers → begin → months
In the favorable-risk patients, “the benefit from this novel regimen of (Votrient and Avastin) was comparable to or better than that of the contemporary immunotherapy combinations,” study leader Dr. Saby George of the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, said in a statement.
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George → say → statement
“This is significant due to the lower cost of this regimen compared to the immunotherapy combinations.”
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This → compare → combinations
The Aporia
