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can a 24 year old get colon cancer

Hello,
I am a 24 year old female who is severely obese to begin with. My aunt was just diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 27 this past december and my Mom also just found out she had colon polyps. I have had abdominal cramping for the past 3 weeks or so. I have had diarrhea alternating with I guess what you would call constipation(it would be hard to go but the stools would be soft). Actually at times it would be hard at first for the diarrhea to come out... sounds weird I know. When I have formed stools they are small, skinny and elongated. For the most part I have had a decreased appetite. When I had my physical by the nurse practitioner instead of my regular physician two days ago she told me I didn't have hemorrhoids but she did occult the stool and found that there was blood in it. Now I have diarrhea and it looks like it has mucous in it. What should I do? Could I have colon cancer?
Thanks,
Elisabeth
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Avatar universal
So I don't know if it will solve all of my problems but I was diagnosed with a gallbladder that essentially doesn't work, so I will get it removed in about two weeks. Thanks everyone!
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Fifty is when everyone must start getting scoped for polyps as this is the age they can start to develop.  If they only found a few, there is no worry just more frequent scoping is needed. You need to speak with a geneticist regarding the occurrences of colon cancer to determine how frequently you should be checked. I don't feel it's what you have now due to your age.  IBS is a possibility and this is easily treated.  Due to the history of colon cancer in your family, this will be something you will want to stay on top of. Let me know what you learn about yourself and I wish you all the best.
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My Mom is 51.
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This is still young for colon cancer...how old is your mom?
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Sorry I just re-read my post. My aunt was 47 when diagnosed with colon cancer and they did remove my Mom's polyps.
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When your aunt was diagnosed did they mention FAP to her?  Familial Adenomatous Polyposis is an hereditary colon disease.  It usually presents with polyps in the colon starting at the age of 10, and depending on the type of FAP the polyps do turn cancerous either in the 30's or late 40's. It's extremely rare to develop colon cancer at your age even when this disease is in the family.  The three of you need to meet with a Gastroenterologist to determine if this is what is in your family.  If a parent has it, their children have a 50% chance of inheriting it, and so on.  You need to see a gastro doc right away, it may just be a bleeding polyp but you need to know.  Were your mom's polyps removed?  They normally remove them when they are found unless there are too many as in FAP.  With attenuated FAP the polyps are fewer and develop more slowly.  Talk to your aunt and mom, the gastro docs usually suspect FAP when someone presents with colon cancer at such a young age and will tell them to have siblings and children checked out. It is caused by a mutation of the APC gene, and if your aunt or mom has had genetic testing, you would only need a blood test to know if you have it.  Let me know what you find out and take care.
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