Early-Onset Cancers Are on the Rise. Knowing Your Family History Is Crucial

Listen in and play along as hosts Cara Anthony and Blake Farmer test their knowledge with a HealthQ quiz on detecting early-onset cancers. Bryce Ramsey of Madison, Mississippi, was 33 when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Upon noticing blood in her stool, she blamed the hemorrhoids she’d developed after delivering her son eight years earlier. This story is a collaboration between Nashville Public Radio and KFF Health News.

It can be republished for free . “But I had just kind of made a deal with myself because the blood was starting to become more frequent,” she said.

“I was like, ‘If this happens the next time I go to the bathroom, I’m going to make a call.’” She saw more blood, and she reached out to a gastrointestinal clinic to get it checked out, just in case. Her doctor said she normally wouldn’t scope someone Ramsey’s age, “‘but something in my gut is just telling me I need to do so,’” Ramsey recalled.