Colorectal cancer is swiftly shifting to more advanced disease and younger individuals according to Colorectal Cancer Statistics 2023, a new report on cancer facts and trends by the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Researchers showed the proportion of individuals in the United States diagnosed with advanced-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) increased from 52% in the mid-2000s to 60% in 2019. In addition, diagnoses of people under 55 years of age doubled from 11% (1 in 10) in 1995 to 20% (1 in 5) in 2019. Overall, in 2023, an estimated 153,020 people will be diagnosed with CRC in the U.S., and 52,550 people will die from the disease. These major findings are to be published today in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, alongside its consumer-friendly companion, Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023-2025, available on cancer.org.
For the report, researchers used incidence data available through 2019 from 50 states and the District of Columbia from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute and the National Program of Cancer Registries of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as provided by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. National mortality data available through 2020 were provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Other key findings from the report include:
- Progress against CRC has slowed from declines in incidence and mortality of 3%-4% per year during the 2000s to 1% per year for incidence and 2% per year for mortality during the past decade.
- The CRC incidence rate was 33% higher in men (41.5 per 100,000) than in women (31.2 per 100,000) during 2015-2019, likely reflecting differences in risk factor prevalence, such as excess body weight, processed meat consumption, and historical smoking.
- Declining incidence rates are confined to ages 65 and older since 2011; incidence rates have stabilized in ages 50-64 years and have increased by 2% per year in people younger than 50 years of age, as well as in people ages 50-54 years.
- Diagnoses have shifted to more advanced disease; the proportion of cancers that are regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes, organs, or tissues) or distant (spread to distant organs/lymph nodes) stage increased from a low of 52% in the mid-2000s to 60% in 2019 despite increased screening.
- CRC death rates have increased since around 2005 by 1% annually in people younger than 50 years and by 0.6% in people ages 50-54.
- CRC incidence is highest in people who are Alaska Native (88.5 per 100,000), American Indian (46.0 per 100,000), or Black (41.7 per 100,000; versus 35.7 per 100,000 in Whites); mortality patterns are similar, with rates highest in people who are Alaska Native (50.5 per 100,000), American Indian (17.5 per 100,000), or Black (17.6 per 100,000; versus 13.1 per 100,000 in Whites).
