Marlene and David Sardo-Infirri were looking forward to the birth of their second child in 2019 – until they received devastating news seven months into the pregnancy.
The then 38-year-old dad was diagnosed with stage-four bowel cancer and was left floored after experiencing only one symptom – frequent bathroom visits – with no abdominal pain or bleeding.
Due to his young age, his doctor wasn’t concerned and put his regular trips to the toilet down to stress or drinking too much coffee.
However, another doctor conducted a colonoscopy and found a tumour blocking part of his bowel. In preparation for surgery, David mentioned he felt dizzy and an MRI found a secondary tumour the size of an orange in his brain along with another smaller tumour in his lungs.
Tragically, David died on August 23, 2022, leaving behind Marlene and their two children, Mathif, seven, and Amelie, three.
Marlene Sardo-Infirri was seven months pregnant when her husband David was diagnosed with stage-four bowel cancer. The then 38-year-old only experienced one symptom – frequent bathroom visits – and didn’t experience any abdominal pain or bleeding
In preparation for surgery, David mentioned he felt dizzy and an MRI found a secondary tumour the size of an orange in his brain along with another smaller tumour in his lungs
Tests confirmed the brain and lung cancers were secondary to the bowel cancer as it had spread
The pair met in 2007 after Marlene moved from France to Perth. They married in 2013 and welcomed their first child in 2015.
‘Life was busy – we were running our own deli business and David was catering too,’ Marlene told FEMAIL.
In the months before the diagnosis, David complained his stomach felt ‘weird’ and he had an ‘annoying feeling’. But tests didn’t find anything sinister.
It wasn’t until he had the colonoscopy that his life changed.
When the brain tumour was found, David’s doctor told him he had ‘no chance’ of survival, but the brave dad replied, ‘I can be the exception,’ and remained positive.
Testing also confirmed the brain and lung cancers were secondary to the bowel cancer.
David was rushed into emergency surgery and all Marlene could do was wait.
‘It was terrifying because you don’t know what could happen – something could go wrong or he might not wake up,’ she said.
‘It was overwhelming. I had to put myself on the sidelines to be there for both the kids and David.
‘Something we’ve learnt from all of this is that cancer doesn’t discriminate. Young people can still get cancer, not just older people.’
The surgery went well, but David suffered an infection, so chemotherapy was delayed.
‘It was overwhelming. I had to put myself on the sidelines to be there for both the kids and David,’ Marlene said
He had chemotherapy every two weeks to shrink the tumours and kept working to support his family.
Marlene described her husband as a ‘very driven person’ who remained positive throughout the ordeal and ‘never felt sorry for himself’.
‘You wouldn’t think he was sick just by looking at him and he didn’t lose his hair from treatment. He kept working as much as he could and shared his progress on social media,’ she said.
At Christmas 2019, there was a moment when the couple thought David would beat the cancer after a PET scan of his brain and lungs came back as clear.
But unfortunately the brain cancer returned 12 months later, so further chemotherapy and radiotherapy was required.
Doctors then conducted surgery to remove the tumour from his bowel.
After a long battle, David died on August 23, 2022. While it was awful losing her husband, Marlene was glad he wasn’t suffering anymore
Marlene is sharing her story in support of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, which is hoping to raise $15million for Cancer Council Australia
At the end of 2021, David started to have chest pains and experienced breathing difficulties, so doctors changed the chemotherapy.
All was well until mid-2022 when David started going downhill and needed an oxygen machine to breathe.
‘One side of his lungs wasn’t working properly and he couldn’t have chemo as frequently. He became too tired and too weak and so the cancer got stronger,’ Marlene said.
On August 23, 2022, David passed away in hospital surrounded by family.
While it was terrible losing her husband, Marlene was glad he wasn’t suffering anymore.
‘Before he died, he told his family, “You need to enjoy your life because you don’t know what’s around the corner. You always think it’ll never happen to you,”‘ Marlene said.
Marlene felt numb after losing David and had to break the news to her son at home.
‘He knew it was going to happen and I told him the truth. We hugged and cried together,’ Marlene said.
The reality of life without David hit Marlene a few months later and she would cry alone after the kids had gone to bed.
‘It’s weird not having him around, it’s not the same and the evenings are a lot quieter,’ she said.
Now that their daughter is a little older, she’s been asking questions about her father, including, ‘How did daddy get to heaven and why was he sick?’
‘I tell her he had a bug in his belly and he had to go to heaven, but he can still see her and he loves her very much,’ Marlene said.
‘I tell her that he wants her to be happy.’
Marlene is sharing her story in support of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, which is hoping to raise $15million for Cancer Council Australia.
She also encouraged others to ‘listen to their body’ if something feels wrong, and to get checked if symptoms persist.
Doctor who is dedicating her career to solving mystery of colon cancer in young people reveals what could be causing explosion of cases – and the three warning signs of disease
By Cassidy Morrison, Senior Health Reporter for DailyMail.com
Dr Kimmie Ng, an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center has dedicated her life to the study of GI cancers and is particularly concerned about the rise in such cancers in people under 50
Dr Kimmie Ng has become a frontline witness to one of the greatest medical mysteries of her generation.
The Boston oncologist has launched one of the world’s first centres dedicated to studying an explosion of cancers in young people.
In the 1990s, doctors began seeing a rise in the number of otherwise healthy people under 50 being stricken with cancer, especially colorectal cancer.
Three decades later, scientists expect the number of early-onset colon cancer sufferers will double by 2030 in what some have labelled an ‘epidemic’.
Dr Ng, who specialises in gastrointestinal cancers, which also include cancers of the stomach and pancreas, said the days of cancer being a disease of the elderly was over.
‘That is not what we’re seeing in our clinics. Actually, these very, very young people are often very healthy,’ she said.
‘They’re very active, exercise a lot, follow healthy diets, and they don’t have a history of cancer in their family and they don’t have a background of a genetic syndrome.’
Rates of GI cancers rose most sharply in the youngest age group, followed by the 20-29 year old cohort. There were also more cases of GI cancers among older people, though in that case it is still considered early-onset cancer
This new alarming cohort don’t have cancer in the family, don’t smoke and drink less than previous generations.
Dr Ng said: ‘Why are these otherwise healthy young people in the prime of their lives developing cancer and often very advanced stages of cancer?’
Among children ages 10 to 14 in America since 2000, colorectal cancers have increased 500 per cent and among teens aged 15 to 19 the rise was 333 per cent, even though the overall numbers of cases are still relatively low in these groups.
Dr Ng said that until doctors know more, patients under 50 must be vigilant for alarming symptoms of the cancer.
The main three signs that appear years before a diagnosis are: blood in stool, changes in bowel movements and stomach pains.
She added that fatigue and unexplained weight loss are also highly suggestive.
Junk food, plastic pollution and the overuse of antibiotics are some of the factors theorised to be behind the rise in early onset cancers, but the evidence is inconclusive.
At the Young Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Dr Ng is exploring how dozens of factors, including diet, sleep, supplementation and drinking habits are playing a role in this increase.
‘I see patients one day a week and the rest of my time is spent running the [new centre], which really focuses on young people under the age of 50 who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, as well as conducting research on the diet and lifestyle factors that may impact how long a patient lives with colorectal cancer.’
Dr Ng is shown. She has pioneered research into the causes of colorectal cancer in young people, establishing the Young Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at Dana-Farber
In her work, she has also discovered vitamin D levels may play a role in cancer development.
Her research showed higher levels of it in the blood was associated with longer survival in people with CRC cancer, especially in stages three and four, which suggests the vitamin plays a protective role.
But how that factors into the rise in young people is still a mystery.
So too is the apparent link between breastfeeding and colon cancer.
One 2023 study found that having been breastfed as an infant was associated with a 23 per cent increased risk of colorectal cancer later in life, and Dr Ng said this corresponded with findings from other studies she’s reviewed.
But Dr Ng said this is no reason to stop breastfeeding your baby.
‘We did see an association between women who reported that they were breastfed as an infant in developing polyps [in their colon], including high risk polyps before they were age 50,’ she said.
‘And we know that these polyps are the precursor lesion to developing colorectal cancer later on. So that association was seen and does seem pretty consistent across different studies.’
The findings indicated a need for more research into how this association holds up in larger groups over a lifetime.
‘And I think, again, this really is going to be pointing back to some environmental change that’s happened recently that is likely contributing to why this is happening.’
In 2010, there were 306 cases of GI cancers per capita of adults aged 20 to 29. That rose to 485 in 2019, an increase of 58 percent. For people 30 to 39, the number rose 44 percent, from 1,184 cases per capita in 2010 to 1,710 cases per capita in 2019.
But among older people, who remain the most likely to get cancer, the rate of incidence and mortality has been falling.
Dr Ng said: ‘So we know overall the silver lining is that colorectal cancer has been declining… if you consider people of all ages.
And that is largely due to successes of screening programs, better adherence to screening and also improved treatments.
‘But this same benefit and improvement has not been seen in people under the age of 50.
‘And we do think it’s probably an environmental exposure or risk factor or combination of such that is likely leading to the rise of this disease in younger people.’
She has discovered vitamin D levels may play a role in cancer development. Her research showed higher levels of it in the blood was associated with longer survival in people with CRC cancer
She added: ‘I think the take-home message is that there is an urgency to doing the research here to understanding what are the risk factors underlying this rise, what are the causes?
‘And if we understood that, then we can identify the young people who are at high risk and target them for earlier screening.’
Colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancers are among the most aggressive, especially if the diagnosis is delayed, which they often are due to how common their main symptoms are: sore stomach, nausea and changes to toilet habits.
GI cancers include those in the stomach, esophagus, colon and rectum, liver, pancreas, gall bladder, and small intestine.
Dr Ng has advocated for years for the government and doctor groups to lower the age at which screening begins in people under 45 – something that came to fruition in 2021.
And while there has been some chatter about even younger groups getting regularly tested, Dr Ng said the youngest groups still account for a small share of cases.
Approximately 150,000 patients are diagnosed each year with colorectal cancer in the U.S. About 18,000 of them are under the age of 50, Dr Ng said.
But she is raising awareness about the early warning signs.
‘So the most common symptom that young patients present with is actually seeing blood in their stool. The second most common is abdominal or pelvic discomfort and a sense of bloating.
‘And other red flag symptoms may include a change in your bowel habits. So new diarrhea, new constipation, a change in the caliber of the stool, including thinner pencil-thin stools.’
She added that unintentional weight loss, fatigue and shortness of breath when physically exerting oneself ‘may indicate that anemia is present. Those are the most common symptoms that often lead to a diagnosis of colorectal cancer.’
Cancer is often thought of as an older person’s disease. Throughout one’s life, cell damage builds up and causes cells to behave differently. Sometimes, they refuse to die off or replicate beyond what is normal, contributing to a build-up of what become cancerous cells.
Thirty-three year old Alyssa Burks was diagnosed with extremely aggressive stomach cancer in 2021. Repeat lab tests and blood panels came back normal, despite her fatigue, unintentional weight loss, trouble swallowing and severe heartburn.
The above graph shows colon cancer cases among under 50s by year. There is a drop in 2020 because the Covid pandemic led to fewer people coming forward for screenings
It wasn’t until 2023 that she underwent a colonoscopy, which uncovered a cancerous polyp. It set off a domino effect of doctor’s appointments, rounds of chemo, surgery to remove her stomach where the cancer had spread, and surgical removal of her reproductive organs.
After the surgery to remove her ovaries at 33, her doctor told her that her cancer was ‘very angry’: ‘It expanded throughout my stomach and climbed further into my esophagus. It was detected in 27 lymph nodes, which indicated it metastasized to other parts of my body. I wasn’t cancer-free at all – instead, I was dealing with an extremely aggressive form.’
Most recent testing showed that the cancer was still in her body, doctors just could not determine where. It’s a symptom of gaps in the medical community’s knowledge of how and why cancers spread so ferociously in people under 50.
She said: ‘Currently, I’m in this strange position where I know I still have cancer, but it’s not being treated. It feels weird to just leave it alone.
‘I’m going to get a full-body scan to see where it might have spread in my body, but imaging tests aren’t great at picking up my type of cancer. Still, I’m hoping it will give me some answers so that I can press my team for other treatment before it gets worse.’
Cases of colorectal cancers in young people are expected to double by 2030. And while obesity – which affects 42 per cent of Americans – is a driving factor of CRC and other cancers, it cannot be the sole explanation.
Dr Andrea Cercek, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said: ‘The rise in obesity alone does not explain the growth of GI cancers in younger people.
‘We are also looking at other possible factors, including toxins we may be ingesting in our food, like hormones, or changes caused by antibiotics to the microbiome in our bodies, which are bacteria and other microbes that help us digest our food. All of these and more are being investigated.’
Scientists have recently begun to focus on forever chemicals, including microplastics, which have penetrated the bodies of 97 per cent of Americans, as a driving force.
The chemicals devised by home goods giant 3M in the 1940s are extremely persistent in the environment and the human body, taking months or even years to break down.
Studies have suggested these chemicals can cause widespread inflammation in bodily tissues, high blood pressure, hormone interference, thyroid disease, high cholesterol and a weakened immune system.
All of this raises the risk of developing a wide array of cancers beyond just gastrointestinal, including ovarian, kidney, breast and testicular cancers.
Cancers that have spread beyond organs in the GI tract are far more likely to be fatal.
Late-stage colon cancer has a five-year survival rate of about 13 per cent, and that of rectum cancer is 18 per cent.
Pancreatic cancer that has spread, meanwhile, has a survival rate of about 15 per cent.
Dr Ng said thanks in part to her pioneering research, the future in medical advancements looks bright: ‘The hope in science is limitless and it has resulted in discoveries that have changed the way patients are treated and that has more than doubled the survival of patients with colorectal cancer.
‘There are advances being made every day. The longer you are around, and thriving on treatment, the more new advances will be made.’
