It's not the same old colon cancer anymore. Research presented this week at the world's largest cancer conference points to unique factors that distinguish young colon cancer from traditional cases. Scientists and doctors are scrambling to understand this phenomenon, which has been on the rise and getting worse since the 1990s. This year, colon cancer became the leading cause of cancer death in people under 50, and the only cancer that is becoming more deadly in that age group, not less. "