Is Extreme Running Linked to Colon Cancer?
https://youtu.be/m8Y0BQP1Pog
Katie Couric interviews Dr. Timothy Cannon, gastroenterologist and oncologist who conducted a study on elite endurance athletes and colorectal cancer. Dr Cannon presented his findings at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology [ASCO] Annual Meeting in Chicago (link below). He discusses a possible link between runner's colitis and colorectal cancer.
Excerpts -
5:05
Cannon: it's going to take a huge effort to figure this out, but it is definitely real. I see them in our office every week, you know, patients under under 45, you under 40, often under 30 with colorectal cancer. I don't really remember seeing it that often, you know, 15 years ago.
34:23
Cannon: I think um uh the most common ones are bleeding in your stool. You know, that's a red flag that and again that back to the marathoners. So many of them were told it was normal if
you run. I would not accept that answer
Couric: Or they have hemorrhoids, right? People blow doctors blow people off and say, "Oh, don't worry."
Cannon: Right. Exactly. Yeah. That happens all the time. So - but bleeding in the stool is a sign.
34:55
Cannon: Abdominal pain is also a common symptom, but it's not there all the time. None of these are, in fact. So I think even having one of those things is enough of a reason to try to get checked out.
Link to study abstract:
https://meetings.asco.org/2025-asco-annual-meeting/16357?presentation=244806%23244806
Link to press release on the study:
https://www.inovanewsroom.org/press-release/2025/08/groundbreaking-inova-study-finds-potential-link-between-long-distance-running-and-colon-cancer/
#gastroenterology #oncology #SportsMedicine #medicine #cancer #ColonCancer #BowelCancer #running #EarlyOnset #EarlyOnsetCancer