Northern California colorectal cancer survivor hopes her story will help save lives
DAVIS - Colorectal cancer cases are on the rise among a vast majority of younger people across the nation, and it's not exactly clear why.
When Shauna Nguyen had side discomfort, her provider blew it off.
"He said it was just constipation, and take some stool softeners and you'll be OK," Nguyen said.
It wasn't and eventually turned into rectal bleeding. She had Stage 3 colorectal cancer. Nguyen was just 31 years old and had no family history.
"I'm a nonsmoker, I'm Asian, I'm healthy, pretty much most of my life I've been a runner," Nguyen said.
"We've been seeing an increase in the percentages of colorectal cancers in patients at an early age. So under the age of 50," said Dr. Eric Noren, an assistant professor for colorectal surgery at UC Davis.
Dr. Noren said they don't know exactly why they're seeing an increase in younger people, but there are things that put you at higher risk.
"Specifically smoking, diets that are high in processed foods and low in fiber. And also high in red meat. So we know those things will increase people's risk overall," Dr. Noren said.
Overall colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S. and the number two cancer killer. Dr. Noren said early detection is key. Someone with no family history and no symptoms should start screening at 45. But if you have either of those, the age is 40.
"Since the 80's, as we've adopted more aggressive colorectal cancer screenings, the overall mortality has been going down," Dr. Noren said.
"I'm doing great. I'm three years of what they call no evidence of disease," Nguyen said.
But Nguyen still keeps a close eye on her body. And says others should too.
"A big part of it is just to let people know that it can happen. Even me, I was a trained medical professional, I missed my own symptoms," Nguyen said.
Dr. Noren said a recent study out of Europe showed patients who got proper screening. Their mortality over the life of the study was cut in half compared to those that didn't