Mayo Clinic's early-onset colorectal cancer services provide expert care and support for the rising number of people diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer before age 50. Experts at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center use the latest care advancements and work alongside teams providing necessary support services for early-onset colorectal cancer.
The number of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 55 each year has doubled since the mid-1990s. As of 2022, 1 in 10 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the U.S. each year was under age 50.
Unfortunately, many young adults are diagnosed with late-stage disease because symptoms may be assumed to have a benign cause and because colorectal cancer screening formerly started at age 50. Because of rising rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, age for initial screening was recently changed to 45 years old for all men and women in the U.S. Mayo Clinic's early-onset colorectal cancer experts aim to detect and intercept colon or rectal cancer early, when it is easiest to treat.
Mayo Clinic advantages for those with genetic risk factors
While most people who develop early-onset colorectal cancer have no identified genetic risks, others may have them — including risk factors such as:
- Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
- Hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.
- Lynch syndrome.
- Other polypoid syndromes, including attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis (AFAP), Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) and several others.
The Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Group treats you as a whole person, quickly collaborating with any specialists needed to adapt your care based on identified genetic risks. Your doctors have deep, broad experience diagnosing and treating rare conditions and in matching your care to your individual needs.
Focused support for younger patients
People who develop early-onset colorectal cancer also may need the specialized support Mayo Clinic offers, including:
- Genetic testing to understand familial risk.
- Fertility management to preserve the opportunity to start or grow a family.
- Enhanced symptom management, because young adults may experience short- and long-term side effects differently from older adults.
- Psychological support — including oncopsychology, also known as psycho-oncology — to help with the mental burden of a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Patient navigation services to assist with financial and insurance concerns, care coordination, or lifestyle factors that impact the care plan.
- Survivorship care after completing cancer treatment.
In addition to providing an unmatched care experience, Mayo Clinic also is driving the field of cancer care forward with research dedicated to early-onset colorectal cancer, as well as an Early Onset and Hereditary GI Cancers Program.
Specialized care and a multidisciplinary team
Early-onset colorectal cancer care at Mayo Clinic is provided by a multidisciplinary team with specialized experts in all facets of colorectal cancer, including:
- Colorectal surgeons.
- Gastroenterologists.
- Genetic testing specialists and genetic counselors.
- Integrative oncologists.
- Interventional oncologists.
- Medical oncologists.
- Occupational therapists.
- Oncopsychology professionals.
- Palliative medicine professionals.
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation doctors.
- Physical therapists.
- Radiation oncologists.
- Reproductive and fertility medicine professionals.
- Social workers and financial navigators.
- Women's and men's health specialists.
The team offers treatment options for tumors at all stages, whether they are fast-growing (called aggressive), locally spread or hard to fully remove (called borderline resectable) or they have spread to other parts of the body (called metastatic). Specific advanced care options include:
The only three-location NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center with three unique locations. All three Mayo Clinic locations draw on a shared sense of expertise and leadership for colorectal cancer with unique teams supporting the needs of each unique community.
Arizona campus
Mayo Clinic is the only facility in Arizona providing proton beam therapy — a powerful tool for patients with colorectal cancer to maximize treatment impact and reduce side effects. Expert teams in Arizona also offer advanced treatments such as sphincter preservation surgery and innovative clinical trials.
Teams in Arizona are focused on survivorship and quality of life with a women's health and sexual health team to preserve fertility preservation and sexual function. The campus in Arizona also is recognized as a Center of Excellence for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS).
Florida campus
Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida meets the guidelines for the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer (NAPRC) accreditation and follows international, evidence-based models for program structure, performance measures and patient outcomes. An expert, multidisciplinary team is one of only a few nationwide to offer liver transplant for some patients whose colorectal cancer has spread to the liver.
In addition to being the leading cancer hospital in the southeast United States, the campus in Florida offers expert colorectal cancer screening, advanced diagnostic capabilities, and treatment and survivorship resources.
Minnesota campus
Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, meets the unique needs of people with early-onset colorectal cancer through long-term quality-of-life planning, genetic testing and an expedited, condensed itinerary coordinating all specialists needed for your best care plan.
Mayo Clinic specialists have unique expertise in rare and complex cancer situations, including:
- Early-onset colorectal cancer diagnosis.
- Research to understand genetic predispositions.
- A team of subspecialists across all departments to manage any co-existing health issues.