As Rates of Some Cancers Increase in Younger People, Researchers Search for Answers

News from National Institute of Health...

Maybe it was already there when he was at Disney World. Sitting in his office on a late-winter morning, wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt adorned on the front with a teddy bear in a business suit, Ryan O’Grady, Ph.D., said he couldn’t rule out the possibility. 

“I don’t know. You can’t really say if it was, but I think about it,” said Dr. O’Grady, a mathematics professor at a small liberal arts college in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs.

It was February 2023, on that family trip with his wife and two young daughters, when Dr. O’Grady first experienced some uncomfortable gastrointestinal issues. A generally healthy 43-year-old at the time, he saw no reason to worry. 

But as the year went on, the problems started occurring more regularly. Finally, with the holiday season approaching, his gastrointestinal difficulties became more frequent and more severe. With some spirited encouragement from his wife, Dr. O’Grady went to the emergency room. That led to a doctor’s appointment and, thanks to an opportune cancellation, a quickly scheduled colonoscopy. 

Finally, two days after Christmas 2024, the call came from his doctor: colorectal cancer..