Hello,

I have seen numerous people on this board that have been dx with bowel cancer in their early thirties and I am quite shocked. I have been told by a few docs that a person under 40 will have less than a percent chance of getting colorectal cancer let alone people in their early to mid thirties. Are most of the young diagnosis due to genetic factors or family history? Please respond.

Hi my name is Amy and my 16th birthday is on Tuesday.... Friday i was diagnosed with colon cancer.... My Dr was so shocked she barely passed out.. it doesn't matter what they say about the age.. my Dr told me i had to be up in my 40s and 50s and im just 16...

Hi;

I was dx with col/rectal cancer 2 1/2 years ago. At that time I had genetic testing done. Conclusion; I inherited the HNCPP gene (Lynch Syndrome). This mutation of the gene is passed on from generation to generation. My children have been tested and thank God they did not inherit this gene. There is a 50/50 chance of passing the gene on to your children.

Genetics do play a role in early age onset oc colon/rectal cancer. The average age for HNCPP patients is 45. BUT it can show up earlier or later. I was 46.

There is also the chance people who have no genetic problems can be dx at any age. Everyone must always be watchful of any symptom that does not seem right.

I have recently tested positive for the MLH1 mutation that is usually the 90% I think, marker for this HNPCC marker stuff. I had just turned 29 when I was diagnosed.

How are you two handling this? How has finding out you have the gene affected you mentally, etc.?

I was diagnosed in my 30s and my doctors were shocked too. Later on, I found out my grandfather was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, in his late 70s. I never had genetic testing. Fortunately, my cancer was caught early, but my radiation treatment made me infertile and put me into menopause, way too soon. This all took an emotional toll, and, this healthboard was the only place where I found other young people, with a similar diagnosis, early in life. I'm surprised doctors still minimize younger people's symptoms, because I've now heard of countless people in their 40s, 30s and 20s being diagnosed, way before the age of 50, when health insurance companies suggest having your FIRST colonsocopy.

This topic makes me soo upset. My husband told our primary care doc. that he had all the classic symptoms of colon cancer, and that he had diagnosed himself after researching it on the internet. The doc. told us not to freak out, that he was WAY TOO YOUNG to have rectal/colon cancer, and in her 18 yrs. of practicing she only had 1 case of a young person who was 45. My husband is 37 and just this week was diagnosed with rectal cancer, after months of literally begging to see a specialist to get a colonoscopy. We won't know what stage he is in until next week, but if it had the potential of spreading and making matters worse these past 2 months, I feel like I should sue the doc for negligence.

We were totally disregarded because of his age, and she even went soo far as to tell me to stay off of the internet it would only worry me, and that she was sure he didn't have cancer---the primary doc. said this. When a patient shows up and tells the doc. that they have rectal bleeding for sometime, they should do a colonoscopy regardless of age! She did a rectal exam and found no hemroids....my husband told her that it was coming from his insides........UGH!! I feel like they have no right to have a license if they can't even listen to their patients hearts!!

So frustrating! Age has no bearing on this type of cancer!

Tonya