For the millennial generation, the death of “Dawson’s Creek” heartthrob James Van Der Beek at age 48 on Wednesday, Feb. 11 after a cancer diagnosis might seem like losing a friend their age for the first time.
Van Der Beek, whose death was announced via his official Instagram account on Feb. 11, portrayed a sensitive high school student looking for love on the turn-of-the-millennium hit show that aired on the WB Television Network from 1998 to 2003.
The cause of the father of six’s death was not immediately announced but Van Der Beek had said 15 months earlier, in November 2024, that he had been battling colorectal cancer since August 2023. It’s a disease that has cancer researchers puzzling over why it’s striking younger people like Van Der Beek more and more. It used to be that screening for the disease was not recommended until after reaching one’s 50th birthday.
On his 48th birthday last year posting on his official Instagram account, Van Der Beek discussed “the hardest year of my life.”
“I had to look my own mortality in the eye,” he said, noting that he hasn’t been able to provide for his family because of his illness. “I had to come nose to nose with death.”
A GoFundMe account was set up Wednesday and has already raised $1.7 million as of Thursday afternoon. The family, with children ranging in age from 4 to 15, is “out of funds” according to the fundraising platform’s page because of his treatment costs and inability to work.
His diagnosis was the same kind of cancer listed as the cause of 71-year-old “Beetlejuice” actress Catherine O’Hara’s Jan. 30 death. Her cause of death, released just a day before Van Der Beek died, cited pulmonary embolism with colorectal cancer as the underlying cause.
Here’s what to know about colorectal cancer that was also listed as the underlying cause of O’Hara’s death:
What is colorectal cancer?
Colorectal cancer is cancer that develops in the tissues of the colon or rectum, set in motion by a host of factors such as genetics, tobacco use, obesity, a low-fiber and high fat diet concentrated on red or processed meats, and, usually, reaching a certain age, among other factors.
DNA changes prompt cells in the rectum and the colon to start growing abnormally, forming polyps that can become cancerous.
Incidence rising for Floridians under age 50 and dropping for older ones
For Florida residents ages 70 to 74, the rate at which they are diagnosed with colorectal cancer is falling. It’s the fourth-most common cancer diagnosis and the third-leading cause of cancer death.
But adults, 70 to 74, in 2022 heard the news they had it at less than half the rate they did in 1990, according to Florida Health Department numbers. For those between ages 40 to 49, though, the incidence rates have nearly doubled comparing 2022 incidence of the disease tp 1990, according to the Florida Cancer Data System.
Why are more younger people getting diagnosed with colorectal cancer?
The total number of people younger than 50 getting diagnosed with colorectal cancer is still fewer than those older than 50 hearing the news, but the rise in the rate of the colorectal cancer getting diagnosed among younger adults has been dramatic enough that a medical consensus emerged in 2021 that screening for the disease, a colonoscopy, should start at age 45, lowered from the standard recommendation for screenings to start at 50.
Researchers and epidemiologists have been unable to pinpoint the exact cause of why more people younger than 50 years old are being diagnosed, but theories abound.
They range from genetic mutations to too much processed food. A few studies have pointed to obesity and heavy consumption of alcohol as likely culprits. Studies are ongoing.
What were the findings of a recent colorectal cancer study?
A peer-reviewed study published last year in The Lancet in January 2025 suggests the richer a country gets the more colorectal cancer strikes younger people.
“Children and adolescents in these highly industrialized and urbanized countries (with higher colorectal cancer rates among younger adults) were probably among the earliest to uptake detrimental dietary exposures and sedentary lifestyles associated with economic wealth,” the study says.
What are the symptoms of colorectal cancer?
Medical literature urges patients to look for change in bowel habits that last more than a few days, be it diarrhea, constipation, the feeling the bowel does not empty completely, noticeably different stool shape, blood in the stool, frequent gas pains, unexplained weight loss and fatigue.
Is there any cure for colorectal cancer?
When it comes to surviving colorectal cancer, time is of the essence. The colonoscopy gets the highest rating among cancer screenings — likely because the screening itself can prevent malignancies along the passageways that food travels to elimination.
In the early stages of the disease, the cancer is confined to the colon lining and can be removed, as often happens during colonoscopies. Past research shows that the screening is associated with as much as a 69% decrease in risk of death from colorectal cancer, according to Harvard Medical School reports.
After the cancer spreads to the lymph nodes, treatment with chemotherapy and surgery likely must be employed to kill remaining cancer cells. Once it travels to more distant organs, commonly the liver or lungs, remission is still possible but much of the treatment focuses on disease management.
Anne Geggis is statewide reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA, reporting on health and senior issues. If you have news tips, please send them to ageggis@usatodayco.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at
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