Professor Alex Boussioutas on the alarming rise of colorectal cancer in Australians under 50

Young onset colorectal crab (CRC), diagnosed successful radical under 50, is emerging arsenic a increasing planetary concern. Australia records some of the highest rates worldwide.

Professor Alex Boussioutas, world clinician astatine Monash University and Director of Gastroenterology astatine The Alfred, confirms the trend.

“Australian complaint of summation successful incidence of CRC successful young ages is 1 of the highest successful the world,” helium tells Neos Kosmos.

Professor Boussioutas stresses while complaint of crab successful younger radical is rising, the total numbers stay small compared to those implicit 50.

At the aforesaid time, helium explains, galore countries are seeing a diminution successful older property groups.

“We are conscionable seeing this successful Australia arsenic well and is apt tied to improving screening rates successful implicit 50-year-olds,” helium adds.

Professor Boussioutas, president of the Gastroenterology Society of Australia (GESA) — and, according to him, “the only” Greek Australian to person held the relation — arsenic well arsenic Director of Clinical Genetics and Genomics astatine The Alfred, highlights different concern.

“Australia has 1 of the highest prevalence rates for bowel crab successful the world,” alongside New Zealand, helium says, adding that South Korea whitethorn present lead.

What’s driving the rise?

According to Professor Boussioutas’s experience, “it is ever a combination” of familial and biology factors.

“There is bully grounds that astir 25% of the young onset CRC (colorectal cancer) person a household past and so whitethorn person a highly penetrant familial predisposition.”

“There is nary uncertainty biology conditions” besides “play a relation successful incidence of CRC,” says the Greek Australian president of GESA.

While the nonstop factors that relationship for this are “unknown,” obesity and the rising prevalence of metabolic syndrome successful young adults person been linked to young-onset colorectal cancer.

Lifestyle habits, such arsenic precocious depletion of reddish meat, highly processed foods, and debased carnal activity, “may besides beryllium a factor.”

However, “proving these links is difficult,” arsenic semipermanent studies connected fare — the benignant needed to found crab arsenic an result — are “hard to conduct.”

If fare matters, could eating patterns similar the Mediterranean diet—common successful parts of Europe—help trim the risk?

Professor Boussioutas says since it is “considered 1 of the protective diets,” it “may” assistance explicate why some European countries, including Greece, person little rates than Australia.

Still, helium notes, different “lifestyle issues” could “conflate this observation.”

Another “interesting country of research” focuses connected microbiome.

“There are galore associations that person been made with various profiles of bacteria that are reported successful antithetic populations,” says the president of GESA.

Individual differences successful ethnicity, diet, medicine use, and different wellness conditions complicate the picture.

“These each request to beryllium factored into analysis, and I americium not sure it has been done very well successful galore studies.”

Early signs hard to detect

“CRC tends to person nary symptoms successful the bulk of cases,” says Professor Boussioutas.

When symptoms bash appear, usually successful much precocious cancer, they tin include:

– Rectal bleeding

– A caller alteration successful bowel habits

– Unintentional weight loss

However, “the likelihood of a crab successful a 30-year-old is still very uncommon.”

This makes it hard for doctors to equilibrium aboriginal detection with avoiding unnecessary tests, particularly with constricted resources, explains Professor Boussioutas.

World Congress of Gastroenterology

The World Congress of Gastroenterology will beryllium held successful Melbourne this year, from September 19–22, successful relation with the yearly Gastroenterology Week.

Experts from astir the world will articulation arsenic speakers, addressing topics crossed the afloat spectrum of Gastroenterology — from GI crab to sustainability successful healthcare.

“It is large to spot an planetary absorption with practice from astir the world,” says the president of GESA.

A keynote lecture will beryllium delivered by Professor Uri Ladabaum from Stanford University, whose “interest is prevention of CRC” and is “a cardinal sentiment person successful our treatment of YOCRC.”

The lawsuit will bring together participants from gastroenterology, GI surgery, nursing, nutrition, the pharmaceutical and instrumentality industries, arsenic well arsenic scientists, trainees, and students, and different specialists such arsenic pathologists and radiologists.

Alex Boussioutas is Director of Gastroenterology and Director of Clinical Genetics and Genomics astatine The Alfred, and a tenured world clinician successful the Department of Medicine astatine the University of Melbourne’s Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH).

He leads probe programs successful precocious gastrointestinal cancers, focusing connected colonisation health, aboriginal detection technologies, and genomic probe of gastric cancer.

Professor Boussioutas was the lone Australian collaborator successful The Cancer Genome Atlas Network for Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer, contributing to landmark studies published successful Nature.

He besides conducts probe successful colorectal crab done the Familial Cancer Clinic astatine Peter MacCallum and collaborations with the University of Melbourne’s School of Population Health.