NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Philip Shipman is acutely aware of the effects of cancer — his father died from cancer when he was a child. More recently, Shipman himself, at 42, was diagnosed with colon cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in Americans under 50 and the second-leading caue of cancer death in the U.S.
Colon cancer incidence rates in the U.S. are moving in two directions — down for those 65 and older, and up for people 65 and under. With colon cancer affecting younger people, it makes for a stark message during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
“My father actually passed when I was a child from cancer,” said Shipman, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2024…