Why are more younger people being diagnosed with bowel cancer?
Tuesday 6 October 2026
Why are more younger people being diagnosed with bowel cancer? Researchers around the world are working hard to piece together what’s driving this rise and what we can do about it.
Yesterday BBC Panorama explored this issue, featuring our supporter Leeanne Davies-Grassnick who is living with stage 4 bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer has long been considered a disease that mainly affects older people. But since 1990, the number of people under 50 diagnosed with the disease has increased by 22% in the UK. This age group now accounts for around 10% of all bowel cancer cases, and it’s increasing by 1–2% every year. And we still don’t fully understand why.
Working together to find answers
For more than a decade, our Never Too Young campaign has highlighted the experiences of younger people with bowel cancer and campaigned for better awareness, diagnosis and support.
We also host COLOREACH UK, bringing together researchers, healthcare professionals and people with lived experience to better understand and address the rise in bowel cancer in people under the age of 50.
And we’re funding research at Newcastle University looking specifically at the diagnostic pathways of younger people with bowel cancer. Researchers are investigating how young people are diagnosed with bowel cancer and the difficulties they can face reaching a diagnosis.
All of this work contributes to a growing picture of what’s happening and what we still need to understand.
Help PROSPECT-UK find the answers
One of the biggest studies looking at the rise in younger bowel cancer is PROSPECT-UK, led by researchers at King’s College London and ZOE.
The study aims to recruit 250,000 people across the UK and will follow participants over time to explore how diet, lifestyle, daily habits, gut health and environmental exposures may influence bowel cancer risk.
And you don’t need to have bowel cancer to take part. Anyone aged 18-50 living in the UK can join the study, regardless of a bowel cancer diagnosis.
By sharing information about your diet and lifestyle, you can help researchers identify patterns and trends that could help us understand why bowel cancer is increasing among younger adults. The study will later expand to include people over 50.
There’s also a timely opportunity for researchers to share and build on this work, with an early-onset colorectal cancer conference taking place in London this November.
Be part of the research
We don’t yet have all the answers about why more younger people are developing bowel cancer. But research like PROSPECT-UK could help us get closer.
Find out more about PROSPECT-UK and get involved
Every person who takes part can help researchers piece together the puzzle.
