In The News: James Van Der Beek and Rising Colorectal Cancer Rates
Episode Summary
In this episode of The Cancer Project podcast, host David Raubach is joined by returning panelist Britney Haynes to examine the life, diagnosis, and passing of actor James Van Der Beek, who died on February 11th from stage three colorectal cancer at the age of 46. Known to audiences from Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues, Van Der Beek had been a self-described health freak who practiced sauna therapy, red light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen treatment, and ate an organic diet — making his diagnosis a striking reminder that cancer can strike even those who appear to be doing everything right.
Van Der Beek’s cancer was first detected after he noticed changes in his bowel movements, prompting him to get a colonoscopy at age 46 — just one year above the current screening guideline of 45 for average-risk individuals. David and Britney unpack the critical importance of heeding even subtle gastrointestinal symptoms, and discuss the array of screening options now available beyond the traditional colonoscopy, including blood biomarker tests (with roughly 55–65% sensitivity at lower cancer stages) and at-home stool testing kits such as Cologuard. Van Der Beek became a vocal public advocate for proactive screening and not waiting for symptoms to become severe before seeking evaluation.
A central theme of the conversation is the alarming rise in colorectal cancer incidence among younger Americans. David cites data showing 154,000 new diagnoses and approximately 53,000 deaths annually in the U.S., with colorectal cancer ranking as the second leading cause of cancer death. Most striking is that while colorectal cancer incidence is declining in older adults, it has been rising roughly 1–2% per year in people under 50 since 2005 — and is now appearing in adults as young as their twenties. The pair explore four leading theories for this trend: ultra-processed and high-fat Western diets that cause gut inflammation and accelerate cellular aging (one study found young adults with colorectal cancer are biologically 15 years older than their chronological age), alcohol consumption and obesity, strenuous long-distance running, and the pervasive presence of microplastics in food and drinking water.
The episode also addresses the financial devastation cancer can bring, even for successful public figures. After Van Der Beek’s death, his family disclosed severe financial hardship from treatment costs and launched a GoFundMe that raised approximately $2.5 million. Britney notes that this sparked a wider public conversation about why cancer care is so expensive, why many alternative and integrative therapies remain uncovered by insurance, and what that means for patients with fewer resources than Van Der Beek had. David draws a parallel to patients he has encountered at the Oklahoma Proton Center who face similar financial and health burdens without the same access to resources.
The episode closes on a note of hard-won resilience drawn from Van Der Beek’s own words. In December 2025, just weeks before his passing, he described his cancer journey as “requiring more patience, more discipline, more strength than I knew I had.” David and Britney reflect on what his story teaches about early screening, lifestyle awareness, the limits of current medicine, and the deeply human capacity to find meaning and strength inside an unimaginable diagnosis. Britney’s own experience with a family member’s cancer diagnosis gives the conversation added personal weight as the episode draws to a close.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Stage Three Colorectal Cancer: James Van Der Beek was diagnosed at this more advanced stage at age 46, requiring both surgery and chemotherapy as initial treatment.
- Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines: Average-risk individuals are advised to begin screening at age 45; Van Der Beek was just one year above this threshold when symptoms prompted his colonoscopy.
- Blood Biomarker Tests: A newer, less-invasive screening option exists that detects cancer through a blood draw, though it is only 55–65% accurate at lower cancer stages and a positive result still leads to a colonoscopy.
- Cologuard and At-Home Stool Testing: Non-invasive stool sample tests provide another alternative to colonoscopy, allowing patients to collect and mail samples for analysis without a clinic visit.
- Rising Incidence in Young Adults: Colorectal cancer rates in people under 50 have been increasing approximately 1–2% per year since 2005, with cases now appearing in adults in their teens and twenties.
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Gut Inflammation: A Western diet high in prepackaged foods and refined grains is suspected to agitate gut bacteria, drive chronic inflammation, and accelerate cellular aging — with one study showing affected young adults are biologically 15 years older than their actual age.
- Microplastics as a Carcinogen: Tiny plastic particles found in drinking water, food, and cookware are increasingly detected in the GI tracts of colorectal cancer patients; they can disrupt cellular replication and act as carcinogens.
- Alcohol, Obesity, and Cancer Risk: Both alcohol consumption and obesity are modifiable risk factors linked to colorectal cancer through shared mechanisms of inflammation, disrupted biochemical repair processes, and cellular mutation.
- Alternative and Integrative Treatments: Van Der Beek was widely speculated to have pursued holistic and international alternative therapies after his cancer recurred, raising important questions about integrating such approaches with evidence-based medicine.
- Financial Burden of Cancer Care: Van Der Beek’s family disclosed major financial hardship after his death, with a GoFundMe raising roughly $2.5 million, spotlighting the enormous out-of-pocket cost of cancer treatment — especially alternative therapies not covered by insurance.
- 90% Survival Rate When Caught Early: Colorectal cancer detected at stage one or stage two carries a 90% survival rate, making early screening a potentially life-saving intervention.
- Gut Microbiome Changes: Research consistently shows altered gut bacteria profiles in colorectal cancer patients compared to healthy individuals, suggesting the microbiome plays a key role in cancer development and progression.
James Van Der Beek’s passing at 46 is a sobering reminder that colorectal cancer does not discriminate by age, fitness level, or lifestyle. His own words — “Sometimes the things we think will break us end up revealing how strong we really are” — speak not only to his personal journey but to everyone navigating a cancer diagnosis. The most actionable takeaway from this episode is simple: know your screening guidelines, listen to your body even when symptoms seem minor, and advocate for your own health. As Van Der Beek himself urged, don’t wait for symptoms to lead the charge. If something feels off, talk to your physician, get screened, and give yourself the best possible chance at catching cancer early — when treatment options are broadest and survival rates are highest.
Full Transcript
Read Full Transcript
David Raubach: I want to thank you for joining us on today’s episode of the Cancer Project podcast. We are joined by Britney Haynes who is becoming a regular on the podcast. Britney, thank you for coming back.
Britney Haynes: Thanks for having me. Excited to be back.
David Raubach: We are going to talk today about an unfortunate tragedy that occurred recently with the passing of James Van Der Beek. But we also want to dive into his journey with cancer and what we can learn about colorectal cancer, increasing incidence rates, screening, treatment, and more. So Britney, thank you for joining us.
David Raubach: So — Dawson’s Creek. Were you a Dawson’s Creek fan? I was slightly too young, just ever so slightly too young to have missed the boat on Dawson’s Creek. I was aware of it because I got my little teeny bopper magazines and James Van Der Beek was all over those, but I was not one to actually tune in. What about you?
Britney Haynes: Yeah, I think people forget what a heartthrob he was in the ’90s — between Dawson’s Creek and then Varsity Blues.
David Raubach: So James Van Der Beek unfortunately passed away on February 11th of colorectal cancer. He was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer, which is more progressed — stage one and stage two tend to be less serious, while stage three and stage four are a lot more serious. He had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. He was diagnosed at the age of 46, and his cancer was actually discovered because of a noticeable change in his bowel movements, which then triggered him getting a colonoscopy.
David Raubach: Have you had any colon cancer screening? Current guidelines state that if you are of average risk — no family history, no symptoms, no history of polyps — the guidance is 45 years of age and above to begin screenings. So I, being an average-risk person, I don’t have family history, I’m not experiencing any symptoms, I would not qualify currently.
Britney Haynes: Even though he was just one year above the guideline age of 45, he was experiencing symptoms, which is why he actually went in and got his colonoscopy. But he was very much an advocate for the message of not letting it be driven solely by symptoms — follow those guidelines. Get screened regularly, because the earlier something is caught, the more treatment options you have and the better the survival rate is going to be. And the symptoms can be very, very subtle. He even said something like, “Was it my coffee? Was it something I’m putting in my coffee?” It’s really easy to disregard those symptoms. So he was a strong advocate for staying on top of your health and getting that screening done when you’re due.
David Raubach: And the colonoscopy itself is not exactly a fun experience. That’s not something you’re just looking to go do.
Britney Haynes: Right. There are actually a lot of less invasive types of screening that exist now. One that Van Der Beek specifically talked about was a blood biomarker test — Patrick Dempsey is actually one of their spokespeople now. It’s not as good at finding those lower-stage cancers; it was only about 55 to 65 percent accurate at those early stages. And it still stipulates that you should be 45. A positive result would just lead you to getting the colonoscopy. But if a colonoscopy feels a little too aggressive, that option does exist.
David Raubach: Have you seen the Cologuard commercials?
Britney Haynes: Yes, that’s another option that’s out there.
David Raubach: I’ve always been fascinated by how toilet paper companies and stool cancer test companies figure out how to market their product in a way that doesn’t cause you to turn away from the TV. And Cologuard does a good job of it. It is a little odd to think about collecting and mailing off your stool samples — a little bit taboo — but I have to say I’m listening and paying attention because I am alarmed by these news articles talking about the increase in incidence in younger people. Most cancers are seeing a reduction in overall death rates, and colorectal cancer is going the opposite way. Why are we seeing it now in such younger populations? It’s alarming to me.
David Raubach: So let’s talk about the incidence rate. 154,000 Americans are diagnosed each year. There are about 53,000 deaths annually. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. One in 23 men and one in 25 women will be diagnosed with some form of colorectal cancer — which is actually multiple cancers: colon cancer, rectal cancer, anal cancers. There is a 90% survival rate when caught early, at stage one or stage two. James Van Der Beek was at stage three when he was diagnosed. And as you mentioned, it is rising fastest in people under 50.
Britney Haynes: Which is alarming. And as far as I know from the research I’ve seen, we don’t really know the definitive causality. They’re lending it toward a culmination of factors that include lifestyle choices and diet, but there’s nothing we can really pinpoint right now. And Van Der Beek himself — he was only 46 years old, he thought he was in the best shape of his life. He was doing the saunas, the red light therapy, eating organic, doing all the right things. When he was diagnosed, he said he was in the best cardiovascular shape of his life. So he would be the outlier to the theories about why incidence is going up. That just goes to show there are things in play that we don’t know about or aren’t in control of.
David Raubach: Yes, he was a self-described health freak. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment was another therapy he was into. So let me go through some of the theories around the increased incidence rate of colorectal cancer in the younger population — people 50 and under. And actually one of the areas where we’ve seen a really big increase is in the age group of 15 to 39. You almost didn’t see people under the age of 39 get colorectal cancer 40, 50, or 60 years ago. And now it’s even presenting in people in their twenties.
David Raubach: The first theory is diet and ultra-processed foods. A primary driver suspected by researchers is a Western diet high in prepackaged foods, refined grains, and fried foods. And it’s important to not just ask what the cause is, but how it’s actually happening. These ultra-processed foods can agitate bacteria in the GI tract, resulting in inflammation and accelerated cellular aging. One study found that young adults who develop colorectal cancer are on average biologically 15 years older than their chronological age.
David Raubach: And that’s significant because cancer is a breakdown in the body’s immune system — a breakdown in the ability to recognize mutating cells. Natural killer cells, NK cells, and T-cells go in and either repair mutations or cause cell death when there are mutations. That system can become weakened. If you have inflammation, inflammation causes cell mutations. More inflammation means more cell mutations, and over time there’s more likelihood that a mutation doesn’t get repaired or that you overwhelm your body’s immune system. So diet is super important, but specifically because these foods cause inflammation in your gut that is literally causing you to age faster.
Britney Haynes: That makes sense whenever you put it in terms of what the actual mechanism is. It’s not necessarily one specific food or eating at one specific time. It’s more about your overall gut health developing this inflammation over a sustained period of time.
David Raubach: Exactly. The next theory: alcohol consumption and obesity. Both are very modifiable risk factors. Obesity has been correlated with a whole litany of cancers. Part of the mechanism is similar — obesity can cause inflammation, can trigger cell mutations, and interrupts the body’s natural biochemical processes of healing and repairing cells. The same thing happens with alcohol. And there have actually been some recent changes in guidelines as it relates to alcohol and cancer risk. There was a school of thought that maybe one glass of wine a day carried some health benefit. Then studies came out suggesting there’s no safe level of alcohol whatsoever. Dr. Oz, in a recent press conference about FDA guidelines, suggested that maybe one to two glasses every now and again might be okay — and part of the reasoning is the social benefit.
Britney Haynes: If you dig into why he said that, part of it is that alcohol tends to be part of a social experience. There’s a real relationship between having a good community and cancer risk. If you don’t get out, if you don’t interact with people, if you don’t have a good support system, you actually are at higher risk — because of the stress and probably the sedentary behavior and obesity that can come with isolation. So it’s not that the alcohol itself is good for you, but that the benefits of socializing may outweigh the negative impact of that one glass of alcohol.
David Raubach: And there’s an interesting finding on the other end of the spectrum from obesity — ultra-marathon and long-distance runners. They’ve said there is potentially a link between early-onset colorectal cancers and very long-distance, very strenuous running. Could that tie in to the gut inflammation mechanism we talked about with processed foods? Is that same kind of accelerated aging of the gut happening with extreme endurance athletes?
David Raubach: One common thread that shows up when researchers analyze gut bacteria of people who have come down with colorectal cancer is that there are changes in that bacteria — the gut microbiome looks different than in someone who does not have colorectal cancer. So there’s obviously a correlation there with the microbiome.
David Raubach: The last theory I want to bring up is microplastics. Microplastics are extremely tiny plastic particles that exist pretty much everywhere. There’s been a massive increase in their presence in our drinking water, in our food, in cookware. And scientists have noticed an increase in the presence of microplastics when looking at the contents of people’s GI tracts in those who have colorectal cancer. These tiny plastic particles can literally go in and cause mutations because they disrupt the cell’s replication process — and that can lead to cancer. So limiting microplastic exposure matters: drink water out of glass or stainless steel rather than plastic bottles, don’t cook with plastic cookware, and — probably the most important one — don’t reheat food in plastic containers, because the heat causes plastic particles to break off directly into your food.
David Raubach: So to recap the lifestyle guidance: limit alcohol, exercise but don’t run too far or too much, limit processed foods and aim for at least one vegetable a day — the Britney Haynes diet — and avoid microplastics. Now, circling back, Britney, what stood out to you about James Van Der Beek’s treatment and what he went through over these few years?
Britney Haynes: As it relates to his treatment, it is mostly speculative because he was very private about it. The only thing he said himself was that if something was out there, he’d probably tried it — a very broad statement. However, it was widely speculated, based on his lifestyle and things shared by him and his wife over the years, that he was definitely trying holistic and alternative therapies. It’s unclear whether that was in conjunction with standard therapy or instead of it. Supposedly friends said he even went out of the country to try some treatments. But what we do know is that initially when he was first diagnosed, he did have surgery and chemotherapy. The alternative therapy pursuit appears to have been more prominent when the cancer came back — and the cancer did come back more than once.
David Raubach: And I think it’s important that it is important to be your own advocate, but it’s also important to weigh being your own advocate with the medical science and literature that exists. Finding the right balance between pursuing alternative treatments and saying, “Okay, we understand that there are treatments that have been proven effective for this particular cancer.” That balance matters.
Britney Haynes: Absolutely. And one thing that this has opened up is a bigger conversation about why cancer treatment is so expensive. His family came out and said they were going through financial hardship from all the treatment costs, and started a GoFundMe that raised somewhere around $2.5 million. That led to conversations about why someone who had a very successful acting career was still financially devastated trying to live. It also led some people to speculate that he had pursued a lot of alternative medicine, since those treatments are typically not covered by insurance and require significant out-of-pocket expense. But I do think it’s a useful conversation about what insurance covers versus alternative medicine and about the overall financial burden of cancer care in the United States. He is almost representative of what you’d think was the best-case scenario — young, very fit, very healthy, flexible career, seemingly well-paid — and still suffered all of these consequences and ultimately lost his life. It poses a lot of questions for people who may not have as many resources.
David Raubach: We talk to patients at the Oklahoma Proton Center who maybe don’t have all of the same resources that James Van Der Beek had, or aren’t coming into a cancer diagnosis at the same point in life — maybe they’re older, maybe they’ve had previous health issues. Cancer unfortunately is one of those diseases that can impact anybody at any point in time and despite pursuing every possible treatment. There is a school of thought that there must be a magic bullet for cancer and you just have to find it. Unfortunately, we don’t have that yet. We’re getting better at treating cancer. People are living longer with fewer side effects. Proton therapy is a big part of that. Cancer detection has gotten better. We’re detecting cancer earlier. But we’re still not at the point of being able to say with certainty that a cancer diagnosis is something we can always fix.
David Raubach: In conclusion, I want to share a quote that I thought was really applicable both for James Van Der Beek’s case and for life in general: “Sometimes the things we think will break us end up revealing how strong we really are.” James Van Der Beek said that. And I know you’ve talked about that a little bit with the journey you went through with your daughter’s cancer diagnosis. Britney, wrap us up today — what should we take away from this?
Britney Haynes: I think the takeaway — certainly what he would want to emphasize — is that going through this journey led him to living more intentionally, with his focus concentrated on his family and the things that really mattered to him. He spoke at length about that. He will leave that with his family, and I think that’s a really beautiful message of hope even in the face of everything he was going through. Although this is still a tragic, terrible story, he was able through the duration to find really beautiful moments and a lot of strength inside himself. As for the practical message: screening is super important. Know what your guidelines are, know when you should look outside those guidelines. Do you have a family history? Are you experiencing symptoms? And his message was very clear that even if a symptom is subtle, even if you think it could be nothing — take it seriously, talk to your physician, be your own advocate.
David Raubach: Well, I thank you for your time, Britney. We’ll look forward to talking to you again soon. And I’m going to send you, on behalf of the Cancer Project, a Cancer Project mug or tumbler that you can put your liquid IV in — so you can stop using plastic water bottles and therefore reduce your lifetime risk of colon cancer.
Britney Haynes: Okay, thank you! I mean, that would be one step. Yes. Thank you.
David Raubach: The Cancer Project podcast is made possible by the Oklahoma Proton Center, a state-of-the-art cancer center where precision treatment meets real compassion in care. We’re grateful for their support and for you for spending this time with us. If you’d like to learn more about the Oklahoma Proton Center, you can visit their website at the link below. And if something you heard today resonated, we’d love for you to stick with us. Subscribe to the podcast and follow along on our socials linked below for more conversations like this — honest stories, thoughtful perspectives, and the kind of support people don’t always know where to find, but do truly need. At the end of the day, this podcast isn’t just about cancer. It’s about what it means to be human inside of it, and how we keep living, connecting, and moving forward together.
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