The recent death of the 48-year-old actor James Van Der Beek is again highlighting how colorectal cancer is increasingly killing younger people.

Dr. Bethany Malone has treated a lot of colorectal cancer patients. The youngest, not counting those with genetic conditions, was 19 years old.

Colon cancer can be found in a few ways, including a digital rectal exam and a fecal occult blood test. There is also the option of using devices in a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. There is also a virtual colonoscopy, the National Cancer Institute said.

Colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men under 50 in the United States, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

He said a routine colonoscopy may have saved his life.

"It is clear that this can no longer be called an old person’s disease."

Doctors are warning patients that colon cancer is on the rise in people under 55. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.