The release did not detail potential reasons for this rise in colorectal cancer deaths, though a representative for the ACS told NewsNation that researchers were looking into “diet and obesity for sure.”

This echoes previous findings from the ACS, as well as the opinions of medical experts who attribute at least some instances of colon cancer in young adults to “diet, decreased exercise and poor lifestyle choices like increased smoking or drinking,” Dr. Dana Hayden, a colon and rectal surgery specialist with UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin, said in 2023.

“But there are definitely some other factors that could be related to genetics, that could be related to tumor biology,” Hayden added. “So, we are trying to work very quickly to figure this out.”