One in ten colorectal cancers is now in people aged under 50

READ MORE: Doctors share 11 tips to lower bowel cancer riskSee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy CIARAN FOREMAN, HEALTH REPORTER Published: 16:52 BST, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 16:56 BST, 4 June 2026

The chance of surviving bowel cancer for patients under the age of 50 plunge dramatically if the disease is not caught early, a study has warned.Cases of bowel cancer - also known as colorectal cancer - have surged among younger adults in recent decades. Around one in 10 cases now occur in people under 50, while diagnoses among those aged 25 to 49 have doubled since the early 1990s. It is also now the fourth-most common cancer in Britain and is responsible for around 46,600 new cancer cases every year, as well as 17,700 deaths.But now, a study published in JAMA Oncology has found that catching and treating the disease early is crucial - and warned that missing it can have catastrophic consequences.Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas analysed data from 112,672 colorectal cancer patients in Texas over a period of 15 years, including 12,079 diagnosed before the age of 50 - known as early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC). The study found that while younger patients generally have better overall survival rates than those diagnosed later in life, delays of more than six weeks between diagnosis and the start of treatment for those with EOCRC were linked to a 29 per cent higher risk of death over the study period.It also uncovered that those diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer - known as stage four - also faced almost six times the risk of death compared with patients whose cancer was caught early.The authors wrote: 'In this cross-sectional study, EOCRC was associated with improved (survival rates) compared with (those diagnosed with the disease over 50); however, treatment delays were independently associated with worse survival among patients with EOCRC.' The chance of surviving bowel cancer for patients under the age of 50 plunge dramatically if the disease is not caught early, a study has warned