‘Treatable, but not curable’: Mother warns others after stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis at 33

Brooke Pangrazio, a 33-year-old mother of three in Alabama, received a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis, joining a growing demographic of younger adults facing advanced colorectal cancer cases. While colorectal cancer rates have declined among older generations, diagnoses among people under 50 have spiked in recent years, making Pangrazio's experience part of a troubling national trend. She is now warning others about the disease, which she describes as treatable but incurable at her stage. The shift toward younger diagnoses has prompted increased medical attention to early warning signs and screening practices in populations traditionally considered low-risk for the disease.