I'm only 25, but a chance test spotted pre-cancer in my colon, I had no symptoms - how many more are at risk without knowing?

An active, healthy 25 year-old has issued an alarming warning about the hidden nature of bowel cancer — after a chance test spotted pre-cancerous growths, despite her lack of symptoms.

Caty Abitz, from Wisconsin in the US, does not smoke, drink or eat unhealthily, nor does she have a family history of the disease, she said in an Instagram clip that's been watched 19,000 times.

Yet, doctors said if they hadn't had spotted the pre-cancer when they did, and removed it, she'd end up with full-blown disease 'in a few years'.

Her warning comes amid a mysterious and global rise in cases of the disease among young adults, with scientists currently unable to determine the cause.

Some scientists have suggested increasing pollution might be to blame, while others say the trend is due to growing consumption of ultra-processed food.

Ms Abitz's ordeal began last autumn when she visited the doctor for help with abdominal pain related to endometriosis — an agonising condition where tissue from the womb lining grows in other parts of the body.

She subsequently underwent surgery to remove the excess tissue.

However, doctors advised her to undergo an examination of her bowel, just to ensure the pain was not related to her digestive system.

The teacher underwent a colonoscopy — where a flexible camera is inserted into the back passage to inspect the bowel.

To her surprise, medics discovered two polyps — small abnormal growths that can become cancerous.

Around 80-90 per cent of bowel cancers begin as polyps, studies show. However, only around five to 10 per cent of polyps go on to become cancer, according to Yale Medicine.

'I got a colonoscopy this week on Thursday and the doctor found some pretty sizable polyps in my colon,' Ms Abitz said in her clip.

'[My doctor] shared with me that if I had waited just a few more years it would have most likely turned into cancer.

'My family does not have a history of colon cancer, I am active, I eat relatively well, I do not drink , I don't smoke...and yet I'm now on the list of people who have to get a colonoscopy every three years to keep my health in check.'

Ms Abitz urged other young people to never dismiss the potential signs of colon cancer, and to not let medics dismiss their concerns.

'If you are a young person and you are experiencing any abdominal pain, bloating, irregular bowel movements and especially rectal bleeding...if you are pushing it off or chalking it up to haemorrhoids go to the doctor and get a colonoscopy,'

'If you find a doctor who's like, "oh you're too young, you're fine", find a new doctor.

'If I would have waited and not got this checked out I would have had full blown cancer, so please take it seriously. It could happen to anybody.'

Over the last 30 years, diagnoses of the disease in the under 50s have shot up by 80 per cent across the globe, research suggests.

Cancer Research UK data suggests bowel cancer, also called colon cancer, has seen a 52 per cent increase in incidence rates for adults aged 25 to 49 since the early 1990s.

The charity, while acknowledging the rise, stresses that bowel cancer rates in younger adults are still low, with only around one in 20 diagnosed in people under 50.

There are around 2,600 new bowel cancer cases in people aged 25-49 in Britain every year, and around 44,100 new cases among all ages.

Commenting under Ms Abitz's clip multiple young social media users shared their own stories of being diagnosed with colon or related cancers.

One wrote: 'I had to fight for my colonoscopy cause I was "too young" and I am going through rectal cancer treatments right now. Found out on Halloween 2024.'

Another chimed in: 'Stage 4 colorectal cancer diagnosed at 24 years old' before adding their own warning of 'GO TO THE DOCTOR'.

One user even said they had experienced a very similar situation to Ms Abitz.

'Same thing happened to me when I was 18,' they wrote.

'They removed 20 massive precancerous polyps that were not benign and I have since had to have a colonoscopy every year to remove these polyps.

'Colonoscopies save lives and the testing process should be widely available for younger people given the rising rate of colon cancer in young patients like us.'

Multiple heartbreaking stories of young people in the prime of their lives being diagnosed with bowel cancer have emerged in recent years.

Perhaps the most recognisable victim of the trend is Deborah James — known as 'bowel babe' — who was diagnosed at just 35 and raised millions for charity in her final days in 2022.

Another example of a fit and healthy women being hit by the disease was Zu Rafalat, of Finsbury Park, London, who died in 2020 aged 39.

The super-fit globetrotter initially thought she had caught a stomach bug in Central America where she went on holiday in December 2018.

It later turned out to be stage four bowel cancer which had spread to other organs.

Symptoms of the disease include changes in bowel movements such as diarrhoea or constipation, needing or feeling the need to empty your bowels more or less frequently, blood in the stool, stomach pain, bloating, unexpected weight-loss and fatigue.