New Delhi, June 7 -- GENEVA - The colonoscopy that might have caught it was never recommended. The symptoms were easy to dismiss - abdominal discomfort, a shift in bowel habits, fatigue that could be blamed on anything. By the time a diagnosis arrived, the cancer had already traveled.

colorectal cancer is not only rising in younger adults, it is finding them at the worst possible stage. Nearly 28 percent of patients under 50 in the Swiss dataset already had metastatic disease at diagnosis, compared with roughly 20 percent of older patients - a gap that reflects not just biology, but a screening architecture designed for a different era.

The research, led by scientists at the University of Geneva and the Geneva University Hospitals and p...