Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and the fourth-leading cause in women. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths when numbers for men and women are combined. (2) In the United States, there were over 141,000 new colorectal cancer cases and 52,000 new colorectal cancer deaths reported in 2021. It is estimated that there will be over 154,270 new cases of colorectal cancer and 52,900 cases of colorectal cancer deaths in 2025. (3) Colorectal cancer rates have been increasing in young patients. About 1 in 5 cases of colorectal cancer were in individuals age 54 and younger. (4) In early 2023, it was reported that about 20 percent of diagnoses of colorectal cancer were among patients under the age of 55. Additionally, half of all early-onset colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed in individuals under 45 years old. (5) Colorectal cancer cases among individuals ages 20 to 39 are expected to increase by 90 percent by 2030. Additionally, colorectal cancer is projected to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for individuals under 50 years of age by 2030.