Springfield, Mo., Jan. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research from the American Cancer Society (ACS), published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), confirms a grim milestone: colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.
While mortality rates have declined for four of the five most deadly cancers, deaths from colorectal cancer have continued to increase at a rate of 1.1% per year since 2005. At current rates, an estimated 55,230 people will die of colorectal cancer this year.
“We have been sounding the alarm about rising colorectal cancer in younger adults, and now JAMA shows the urgency is here, colorectal cancer is already the leading cause of cancer death under 50,” Anjee Davis, CEO of Fight Colorectal Cancer, said. “That is why we take this fight to Washington, bringing visibility on the National Mall and urging lawmakers to prioritize colorectal cancer through prevention, screening access, and timely follow-up care.”
Colorectal cancer is also the only one of the top five leading causes of cancer death to show a steady increase in deaths among people under age 50.
As a society, these trends should make us all angry. Colorectal cancer is preventable. In 90% of cases, colorectal cancer can be prevented through screening and early intervention. Yet steady increases in mortality rates continue with each new data update.
“This new JAMA analysis confirms what patients and families have been living, colorectal cancer is already the leading cause of cancer death in people under 50, and the trend is still rising,” Davis said. “That is exactly why Fight CRC brings this to the National Mall through United in Blue, placing 27,400 blue flags to represent the young people projected to be diagnosed in 2030, and why we mobilize advocates and partners all March to push screening, prevention, and faster diagnosis into the national conversation.”
Fixing this problem is a function of policy, equitable access, and awareness. Action is needed across the agencies that address this issue every day—including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). A unified colorectal cancer prevention and early-detection roadmap, with clear deadlines the public can measure, is urgently needed.
From 1990 through 2023, 1,267,520 people died of cancer in the US before age 50 (53% female).
In the same period, the overall age standardized cancer death rate in this age group decreased by 44%, from 25.5 to 14.2 per 100,000.