These two questions came from my colorectal oncologist, who I’ve referred to here as Dr. C but I’ll now call him by his full name: Dr. Cannon.
I had scheduled what I called a “mild emergency” visit before starting chemo. I felt incredibly weak, deeply fatigued, and I was losing more blood. My labs showed anemia, but he wanted to look at a few other things too.
I hopped up on the exam table.
“Have you ever been on acne medication?” he asked.
“Yeah…” I said, immediately transported back to the deeply unfortunate years of middle and high school. “That one we were all on in the 90s. I can’t remember the name.”
Accutane.
He perked up a bit—but I had only been on it for a few months. That seemed to lower his level of interest.
Then he asked:
“Are you a long-distance runner?”
I laughed. “Oh no, Dr. Cannon, I don’t run.”
(For the record: I love movement. I love wellness. I do not run. Never have. Highly unlikely I ever will. Even if there are zombies.)
But those two questions stuck with me.
So I did some digging.
From what I’ve been able to find—just light research, not a full academic deep dive—there is no clear direct link between Accutane and colorectal cancer. There may be some association between Accutane and inflammatory bowel conditions, and certain inflammatory bowel diseases can increase colorectal cancer risk.
Not nothing.
But not enough science (yet) to make it something.
The long-distance running one, though?
That’s legit.
And Dr. Cannon led the initial study.
(I told you I had a team of badasses.)
The study looked at long-distance runners between ages 35–50 who had never had a colonoscopy—meaning, people who likely wouldn’t have even qualified for screening yet—and had no family history of the disease.
The findings:
- The average age of participants was: 42.5 (younger than the screening age)
- 15% had advanced precancerous polyps (compared to ~1–2% in average-risk adults)
- 41% had at least one adenoma (a benign tumor, but can be a “precursor” to cancer)
The working theory is that repeated intestinal stress—specifically reduced blood flow to the bowel during extreme endurance exercise—may contribute to increased risk.
This doesn’t mean running causes cancer.
But it does suggest there may be a meaningful risk factor that hasn’t been on most people’s radar.
And it’s deeply unsettling.
Because I know and work with a lot of endurance and tactical athletes.
People who pride themselves on doing hard things with their bodies.
People who are, by every visible metric, healthy.
Like me.
And colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer in adults under 50.
Like me.
Dr. Cannon and I both know I’m not going to die from this.
Which is good—because he says I should be a research advocate.
I don’t fully understand what that means yet.
(And I should probably take care of myself before helping other people. #lifelesson)
But when I hopped off the table I told him this:
It’s insane I have this cancer—these cancers—and if there is anything I can do with my background (marketing, public speaking, facilitation, writing) to help prevent this from happening to someone else—
Panels. Talks. Research. Whatever.
I’m in.
I know this is scary AF.
Not just for me, but for my peers.
I don’t PSA a lot in this blog, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say:
If you are an endurance or tactical athlete under 50 and experiencing any symptoms—bleeding, changes in bowel habits, unexplained fatigue—don’t brush it off.
Push for a colonoscopy.
No is not an acceptable answer.
If they find polyps, they remove them right then.
That’s the off-ramp.
That’s how you avoid the chemo, the surgeries, the radiation.
That’s how you avoid ending up where I am.
Because in this case, if you think you’re too young—or too healthy—to get colorectal cancer…
you might be exactly the person at the greatest risk.
—
Here’s a link to the full study.
Here’s a link to Inova’s summary of the study, and a very good short video about it. And you get to see my dude talk!
—
P.S. The stuff they make you drink before a colonoscopy? Sure, it’s gross, but it’s nothing compared to chemo.
