Incidence of colorectal cancer among adults under 50 has increased by about 3% yearly, according to multiple reports. Approximately 45% of colorectal cancer diagnoses are in people under 65, and the five-year survival rate for distant colorectal cancer is 13%, multiple reports indicate. Natalie Hopper was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in March 2023 at age 42, according to multiple reports.
Her doctors initially dismissed her symptoms as stress or diverticulitis, and she was told she was too young for cancer, multiple reports indicate. A locum doctor referred her for an urgent CT scan in February 2023, multiple reports indicate. Katie Rich was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2018 at age 33, according to multiple reports.
Her only symptom was pain around her ribs, multiple reports indicate. Her doctor initially told her not to worry about a shadow on her liver due to her age, multiple reports indicate. Amber Kissell was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver at age 36, according to multiple reports.
Her symptoms began after the birth of her daughter in late 2015, and her doctors initially dismissed them as a fissure or hemorrhoids, multiple reports indicate. She was told she was too young for cancer, multiple reports indicate. She experienced symptoms including bleeding, dizziness, blurred vision, fatigue, bloating, and abdominal pain, multiple reports indicate.
She was diagnosed via colonoscopy, multiple reports indicate. Lawrence Fox was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in December 2024 at age 67, according to multiple reports. He was initially told he had nine months to live, and his tumor was 75mm and inoperable due to its position near a major artery, multiple reports indicate.
He underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy, shrinking the tumor to 15mm, multiple reports indicate. Fewer than 10% of patients with stage four pancreatic cancer survive beyond five years, multiple reports indicate. His symptoms included indigestion, inability to keep food down, diarrhea, and weight loss, and they were initially attributed to diverticulitis, multiple reports indicate.