LOS ANGELES — Last year, the American Cancer Society lowered the recommended age for adults to begin screen for colorectal cancer from 50 to 45.

This is after a troubling trend that showed colorectal cancer patients are getting younger. The number of cases for people under the age of 55 has nearly tripled since 1995, according to the American Cancer Society.

What You Need To Know

  • Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for adults 55 and under

  • Researchers are still trying to find a definitive cause for why the numbers are going up
  • The number of colon cancer patients under the age of 55 has nearly tripled since 1995

Melisa Valenzuela is a student assistant at Cal State Northridge, where she's pursuing her dream of a career in media. She was just 29 years old when she was shocked by a colorectal cancer diagnosis. 

"Everything was coming into place for me, and then all of a sudden, 'bam.' Cancer just hit me," she said. "And I wasn’t able to do anything."

The National Institute of Health says cancer rates are rising by 1-2% each year among people under the age of 55. For Valenzuela, dealing with the reality of facing the potentially deadly disease was difficult. 

"To protect myself, I feel like I went into autopilot," she said. "So every time they would tell me, like, bad news, I kind of would just kind of close my ears."

Dr. Andreas Kaiser is the professor and chief of the division of colorectal surgery at City of Hope Hospital, which is where Valenzuela received her treatment. Kaiser performed the surgery to remove the tumor from Valenzuela's colon, and says younger people need to pay attention to the warning signs.

"The biggest obstacle to initiation of care that everybody just assumes rectal bleeding in young a person, it’s hemorrhoids," he said. "And unfortunately, very often, it’s not the case."

More than 53,000 people died from colon cancer in the country last year. Overall, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the country behind heart disease, but Kaiser says technology might help those numbers down in the near future.

"Certain types of tumors, we just give immunotherapy, and they melt away. We don’t even need to do surgery," Kaiser said. "That was inconceivable 20 years ago. Now, it’s practiced."

Valenzuela feels grateful she was able to overcome the disease. And now that she's cancer free, she's continuing to pursue her dreams of a career in journalism.