Colorectal cancer diagnoses have increased among people under age 50 in recent years and researchers are seeking reasons why.
In a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, researchers found a link between drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer in women under age 50.
The findings suggest that heavy consumption of sugary drinks during adolescence (ages 13 to 18) and adulthood can increase the disease risk.
Sugar-sweetened drink consumption has been linked to metabolic health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, including in children.
But less is known about whether such high-sugar beverages could have a role in the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer in younger people.
In the study, the team analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study II, a large population study that tracked the health of nearly 116,500 female nurses from 1991 to 2015.
Compared with women who drank less than one 8-ounce serving per week of sugar-sweetened beverages, those who drank two or more servings per day had just over twice the risk of developing early-onset colorectal cancer, meaning it was diagnosed before age 50.
The researchers calculated a 16% increase in risk for each 8-ounce serving per day.
And from ages 13 to 18, an important time for growth and development, each daily serving was linked to a 32% increased risk of eventually developing colorectal cancer before age 50.
The findings suggest that sugar intake, especially in early life, is playing a role down the road in increasing adulthood colorectal cancer risk before age 50.
This study, combined with the team’s past work linking obesity and metabolic conditions to a higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer, suggests that metabolic problems, such as insulin resistance, may play an important role in the development of this cancer in younger adults.
With the increasing rates in mind, the American Cancer Society has recently lowered the recommended age for a first screening colonoscopy to 45, down from the previously recommended age 50 for people at average risk.
Those with additional risk factors, such as a family history of the disease, should start even earlier, according to the guidelines.
If you care about colon cancer, please read studies about can aspirin lower colon cancer risk in older people? It depends on when you start and findings of this common beverage may reduce death risk in colon cancer.
For more information about colon cancer treatment and prevention, please see recent studies about bacteria in mouth may lead to spread of colon cancer and results showing that a new cause of colon cancer and how to prevent it.
The study is published in Gut. One author of the study is Yin Cao, ScD.
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