Something unique appears to have happened to the cohort of people born after 1950, and it’s putting every subsequent generation at a greater risk of developing colon cancer early and fast. Colon cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50 since about 2014, when it beat out lung cancer, but until 2023, breast cancer remained the leading cause of cancer death in people under 50 overall.New data shows that in 2023, colon cancer eclipsed breast cancer, which had been the leading cause of cancer death in young adults for over a decade. Before that, lung cancer was the big killer.Until the mid-1990s, colon cancer was less deadly in people under 50 than brain cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, and breast cancer. It was only in 2021 when the US Preventative Services Task Force lowered the colon cancer screening age recommendation from 50 to 45, realizing that the risks had changed. What really causes colon cancer ?

