Younger adult colon cancer deaths are concentrated in people with less education, study says [View all]

https://apnews.com/article/colon-cancer-deaths-young-adults-78c0a3287f2d29575b4004e07230b993

Younger adult colon cancer deaths are concentrated in people with less education, study says
By MIKE STOBBE
Updated 11:07 AM CDT, April 16, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — The worrisome rise in colorectal cancer deaths in younger adults is concentrated in people with less education, suggesting socioeconomic factors could be driving the escalation, according to a new study.

Celebrity deaths — including Chadwick Boseman in 2020 and James Van Der Beek earlier this year — have highlighted the increase in colorectal cancer deaths among younger adults, but the new paper was called the first to parse which people are most affected by the alarming rise.

The researchers found that over the last 30 years, the rise in colorectal cancer deaths in young adults occurred almost entirely among people without a four-year college degree.

Of course, getting a college degree doesn’t protect you from getting colon cancer. Rather, experts say it’s a marker for other issues: People without degrees tend to earn less money, have poorer diets, exercise less and get less medical care.

It’s not totally unexpected that the death risk is concentrated in the less advantaged, but the paper published Thursday in JAMA Oncology is the first national study to actually show the connection, said Dr. Paolo Boffetta, a researcher at Stony Brook Cancer Center in New York who wasn’t involved in the work.

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