You may have heard that colorectal cancer is increasingly affecting young adults. However, it is not the only gastrointestinal (GI) cancer that doctors are diagnosing in patients below the age of 50, explains Christina Wu, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Arizona.

"People under 50 are not too young to develop gastrointestinal cancers," Dr Wu says. "If young adults notice new or persistent symptoms, it's important to get them worked up."

At Mayo Clinic, early-onset gastrointestinal cancers are defined as GI cancers diagnosed in people under 50 years old. Research shows that the most common type of early-onset GI cancer worldwide is colorectal cancer, followed by stomach cancer, esophageal cancer and pancreatic cancer. Less common types of early-onset GI cancers include bile duct, gallbladder, appendix, neuroendocrine and small bowel cancers.