Worrying study: Bowel cancer now leading cancer killer in under-50s — four toilet symptoms never to ignore

Bowel cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death among young people in Norway since 2020, bucking a broader trend of declining cancer mortality in under-50s across virtually every other major cancer type, a new study warns.

As reported by The Sun, research from Oslo University Hospital published in JAMA Network Open analysed 13,250 cancer deaths in Norwegians aged 20 to 49 between 1996 and 2024, finding that while lung, breast, skin, brain and pancreatic cancer deaths all declined significantly, bowel cancer mortality remained stubbornly flat.

In the UK, Cancer Research UK data shows bowel cancer rates in 25 to 49-year-olds have risen 72 per cent since the 1990s. Researchers attributed the stagnation partly to frequent late-stage diagnoses. Key symptoms include blood in stool, changes in toilet habits, unexplained weight loss and persistent fatigue.