Rectal Cancer Is Rising 3x Faster in Hispanic Adults Under 50 — What the ACS 2026 Data Reveals

# Rectal Cancer Is Rising 3x Faster in Hispanic Adults Under 50 — What the ACS 2026 Data Reveals

> **Quick answer:** Rectal cancer mortality is rising at 2.2% annually among Hispanic adults under 50 — more than twice the rate of colon cancer in the same group and the fastest rise of any demographic tracked in a 2026 study using 25 years of CDC death records. Researchers attribute the disparity to a combination of low screening rates, high rates of uninsurance, metabolic risk factors, and the frequent misdiagnosis of rectal bleeding as hemorrhoids. Projected trends suggest rectal cancer deaths could surpass colon cancer deaths in young adults by 2035.

Rectal cancer rising Hispanic adults under 50 is not a statistical footnote. It is, according to a new analysis presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026, the fastest-growing cancer mortality trend of any demographic group in the United States. While most cancer equity coverage focuses on Black Americans and breast or prostate cancer, this data reveals a different and largely underreported crisis unfolding inside a population that already faces some of the highest barriers to preventive care in the country.

## The New Research: What the Numbers Actually Show

The data comes from a study led by Dr. Mythili Menon Pathiyil, MBBS, a gastroenterology fellow at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Her team analyzed death records from the CDC's WONDER database spanning 1999 to 2023, focusing on adults aged 20 to 44. They used an ARIMA machine-learning model to project mortality trends through 2035.

The headline finding: rectal cancer mortality is rising 2 to 3 times faster than colon cancer mortality across all young adult demographics — but the acceleration is sharpest among Hispanic adults.