If you look down at your stomach, glide your eyes diagonally from your belly button to the lower right side of your abdomen: that’s your appendix. It is a finger-shaped organ that stems from your colon.
With two primary functions — supporting the immune system and potentially serving as a safe house for good bacteria, as theorized from some– the appendix is a small, but mighty organ that is important to take note of, especially given the recent rise of gastrointestinal cancer incidence in young people and beyond.
“It is a rare type of cancer with about one to two cases per million annually in the United States,” says Thejus Jayakrishnan, MD, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist in the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment Center and the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Still, Jayakrishnan and other physicians are paying more attention to this rare cancer as they see the growing incidence in younger patients.
Why are appendix cancer rates rising?
Cancer can affect all age groups, but typically this cancer affects adults in their 40s and 50s. However, researchers and physicians at Dana-Farber and other institutions nationwide are seeing those in their 20s to mid-30s affected, too.
“We are seeing a rise in appendix cancer incidence in younger generations. Someone born in the 1980s has a 3 times higher risk of developing appendix cancer compared to someone born in the 1940s,” Jayakrishnan says.
Because older adults are generally more likely to develop cancer, the reasons younger individuals get this cancer are largely unclear. Jayakrishnan suggests that the driver behind this could be from changes in lifestyle, diet, environmental exposures, and physical activity levels.
“We noticed an increasing incidence of early onset colorectal cancer in younger individuals and since the appendix is connected to the colon, it makes sense that the trends could be related,” Jayakrishnan says.
It’s previously noted that colon cancer may be linked to a poor diet, such as consuming processed foods, preservatives, and a higher intake of sugar. The chemicals released from the food we eat can stay in the intestine for a long period of time, which Jayakrishnan says, these constant exposures could likely be contributing to the rise in appendix cancer rates too.
How can I identify it?
While there are screening procedures for colon cancer, there are currently no annual screening measures for appendix cancer.
“In a lot of cases, patients may undergo an appendectomy for abdominal pain, which contributes to a diagnosis if the final pathology report indicates it [appendix cancer] after surgery,” Jayakrishnan says. “It is difficult to detect unless there’s an alternative reason that brings the issue to light.”
Still, it’s good to know the symptoms. A patient with appendix cancer may have some symptoms, including persistent abdominal pain, bloating, or changes in their stool such as constipation or blood in their bowel movements. If diagnosed, the removal of the cancer will involve surgery, assuming it has been caught early.
Even though life can get busy, it is important to maintain a consistent healthy lifestyle and to stay proactive about your medical care whether that includes annual screenings or taking note of unusual, persistent symptoms.
“Put yourself first and seek a doctor if you have symptoms and are worried about your health,” Jayakrishnan says.
What can Dana-Farber do to help me, if I need it?
The Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center is one of the first and only cancer centers dedicated to caring for young adults with gastrointestinal cancers. To best serve our patients, we take a multidisciplinary approach to care. Each patient is supported and seen by a team that includes a medical oncologist, surgeon, and radiation oncologist with specific expertise in colorectal cancer.
Part of the research the center also conducts is to identify risk factors and how new environmental exposures may impact us. This will hopefully help identify more precise screening for this kind of cancer.
“Since it’s a rare cancer, our ability to conduct research and identify mechanisms for its development is impacted,” Jayakrishnan says. “We use information from colon cancer to inform us on how to treat appendix cancer although they are not the same. We also profile the cancers and look for mutations that can help us apply targeted therapies in clinical trials.”