Experts move step closer to understanding rise of young colon cancers

Researchers may be one step closer to unravelling the cause of a colon cancer crisis in relatively young people.

They’ve found that a combination of eating too much sugar and not enough fiber causes the gut to produce a bacteria that speeds up the aging of people’s cells.

This makes them more susceptible to mutations and damage that leads to cancer and less likely to be able to fight off the growth of tumor cells, according to new research presented at the world’s largest cancer conference this weekend.

Meanwhile, a separate study revealed at the conference theorizes that energy drinks could be partly fueling the colorectal cancer epidemic in under-50s.

The researchers behind that trial believe that an ingredient called taurine feeds and promotes the growth harmful gut bacteria linked to the disease. 

The new findings come as colorectal cancer rates among Americans under 50 are expected to double from 2010 to the end of the decade.

Doctors trying to work out what’s behind the rapid rise have suspected for some time that modern diets are to blame in some way. 

Researchers presenting at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago this week believe they have moved one step closer to understanding how the food we consume plays a role. 

In an abstract of the new paper, which has not been published yet, the team from Ohio State University looked at genetic samples of young – under age 50 – and older people with colon cancer.

They found that younger patients who had diets low in fiber and high in sugar produce a bacteria called Fusobacterium, which increases inflammation throughout the gut by binding to pro-inflammatory proteins. 

Fiber, in contrast, slows the release of glucose in the blood (blood sugar) and feeds healthy gut bacteria that lower inflammation.

Sustained inflammation has been shown to age cells, and the researchers estimated that regular poor diets in young colorectal cancer patients aged their cells by up to 15 years older than a person’s biological age. 

This is a phenomenon called ‘inflammaging.’

Older cells are more vulnerable to cancer because they are more damaged and more likely to gain mutations that make them susceptible to disease. 

Meanwhile, older patients with colon cancer had cells on par with their actual ages. 

The researchers estimated that while 20 percent of young-onset colorectal cancers are inherited from parents, the rest of cases ‘remain poorly understood.’

‘These data suggest that pathogenic microbes may induce inflammation, which leads to accelerated aging in [early-onset colorectal cancer],’ the researchers wrote. 

The team noted that the findings align with other recent data, suggesting that low-fiber, processed diets throw off the gut microbiome balance in a process called intestinal dysbiosis. 

The findings come 95 percent of Americans don’t get enough fiber, according to the USDA. 

The agency recommends that adults get between 25 and 30 grams of fiber every day, which is roughly the equivalent of two to three bowls of oats or one cup of chickpeas.

However, most Americans consume only about 10 to 15 grams of fiber a day.

Click here to resize this module

Additionally, researchers at the University of Florida introduced a trial this weekend which will aim to evaluate the effect of energy drinks on young colorectal cancer patients.

The team is recruiting 60 colorectal cancer patients ages 18 to 40 with no family history of the disease to see if taurine, an ingredient in energy drinks like Red Bull, feeds H2S-metabolizing bacteria, which has been linked to increased incidences of colorectal cancer. 

‘These bacteria preferentially use taurine, an essential amino acid, as a primary energy source. Energy drinks represent one of the largest dietary sources (6-16x normal daily intake) of taurine in contemporary diet,’ the team wrote. 

‘Our hypothesis is that high taurine levels in energy drinks could exacerbate CRC risk by promoting preferential growth and metabolic activities of already present H2S-producing bacteria, contributing to the rise of [early-onset] CRC.’

As of March 2024, 32 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 consume energy drinks regularly, and energy drinks are the second-most popular ‘dietary supplement’ among adults in that age group behind multivitamins. 

The study will finish enrolling in Fall 2024.