Could i have colon cancer at 21?

by rach
(ireland)

Hi, Im 21years old, over the last few months ive been suffering from inexplicable tiredness, im literally tired all the time no matter how much sleep I get, I have a complete lack of appetite, I feel bloated a lot and suffer from diarrhea fairly often now, from time to time over the last month or two I have noticed blood in my stool, but I ignored it thinking it was probably nothing but now I am also getting occasional sharp pains in my lower abdomen, could you advise me on what it could be or what I should do? I suffer from asthma, migraine and hay fever and I take an oral contraceptive. I don’t smoke and only occasionally drink alcohol. My mother had cancerous polyps on her bowel and my sister has diabetes.

Risk of Colon cancer

Thank you for getting in touch. I can understand your concern as to whether you have colon cancer or not. Fortunately, colon cancer in 21 year olds is very rare. It can occur in families with colon cancer in relatives under the age or 45 years of age when genetic influences are prominent. You mention your mother having cancerous polyps of the bowel, but not her age. If she was under 45 years of age at the time then you are at increased risk. Also, there are other genetic disorders that can increase your risk of colon cancer. There are hereditary syndromes such as HNPCC that increase risk. You can read more about colon cancer, risks, symptoms and conditions associated on our colon cancer early symptoms page.

Your symptoms of tiredness might indicate anemia and your lack of appetite, bloating and diarrhea (sometimes with bleeding) should be checked out. Conditions in a 21 year old that are more likely to be found are inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis or crohns disease, infections and celiac disease. A very common condition that could account for your symptoms is IBS or the Irritable Bowel Syndrome with associated bleeding due to hemorrhoids or an anal fissure. You can read more about this at IBS Help Online.

The most important message for you is to go to your doctor to get this checked. Doing nothing due to worrying about the condition will only make things worse. It may well turn out to be something very easy to treat and will give you peace of mind. If it is a more serious condition, you can then also get the right treatment in place. Good luck.




My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!