(ABC 6 News) – On the first day of March, doctors and patients are marking Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

Notably, this comes as family and friends mourn the loss of former University of Michigan linebacker Craig Roh, who passed away at 33.

Dis death is part of a troubling trend, as colon cancer is the deadliest cancer for men under 30.

“For people under the age of 50 diagnosed with colon cancer, about a third of them have some remarkable family history that might have given us a clue,” said Dr. Arif Kamal, the chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society.

Doctors recommend both men and women get a colonoscopy at the age of 45, five years sooner than previously suggested.

If caught early, the survival rate of colon cancer jumps to more than 90%.