Study Shows Sharp Rise in GI Cancers Among Young Adults: Daily Dose

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Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

On April 18, 2025, we reported on a study published in JAMA Network Open that aimed to report updated incidence trends for pancreas cancer and colorectal cancer in the US.

The study

Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database to examine incidence trends from 2000 to 2021. Temporal trends of pancreas and colorectal adenocarcinoma incidence rates by covariates were measured by annual percentage changes (APCs) and 95% CIs, according to the study methods. From 2000 to 2021, 275 273 cases of pancreas adenocarcinoma were identified and a total of 1 215 200 cases of colorectal cancer were identified.

The findings

Among individuals aged 15 to 34 years, the APC for pancreatic adenocarcinoma was 4.35% (95% CI, 2.03–6.73), significantly higher than that for older age groups (P <.01). For colorectal adenocarcinoma, the APC in the younger group was 1.75% (95% CI, 1.08–2.42), compared with a decline of –3.31% (95% CI, –3.54 to –3.08) in adults aged 55 years and older.

The study also examined trends by sex and race. Pancreatic cancer incidence increased in all racial groups. Though the APC was slightly higher in men (1.87%) than women (1.57%), the difference was not statistically significant (P =.13). For colorectal cancer, incidence declined across all racial groups, with the steepest declines seen among White individuals (–2.96%) and Black individuals (–2.87%).

Authors' comments

"The findings of this cohort study suggest that the incidence of pancreatic adenocarcinoma has increased among all age groups, whereas that of colorectal adenocarcinoma has increased among younger age groups. Clinicians should be aware of this trend when evaluating younger patients with relevant symptoms."

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