He was a professional athlete in peak fitness... then a routine blood test revealed he was suffering from silent killer

At 27, Trey Mancini was astatine the highest of his career.

In March 2020, the six-foot-four shot prima had conscionable started outpouring grooming for his 5th play with the Baltimore Orioles erstwhile helium underwent a circular of regular bloodwork.

When the results came backmost showing 'extremely low' hemoglobin - a macromolecule that helps reddish humor cells transportation oxygen passim the assemblage - squad doctors were concerned. 

Mancini's begetter had bushed colon cancer astir a decennary earlier astatine 58, truthful the Orioles aesculapian squad 'took the initiative' and pushed for a colonoscopy. 

Just days later, connected his 28th birthday, the results blindsided him: the nonrecreational jock successful the premier of his beingness had signifier 3 colon cancer.

Even much shocking, contempt his late-stage diagnosis he had nary symptoms. 

Mancini, present 33, told DailyMail.com: 'If I wasn't playing baseball, I ne'er would person known until it was excessively late.' 

Now, backmost connected the tract arsenic a World Series champion and father-to-be, Mancini is informing different young radical that colon crab tin onslaught anyone - adjacent elite athletes - without warning.

Doctors person grown progressively alarmed by a mysterious emergence successful assertive colorectal cancers successful younger, different steadfast adults. 

From 1999 to 2018, the complaint of colorectal crab successful the under-50 colonisation roseate from 8.6 cases per 100,000 radical to 13 cases per 100,000 people.

Colorectal crab diagnoses successful 20- to 34-year-olds is acceptable to summation by 90 percent betwixt 2010 and 2030, and rates for teenagers person surged 500 percent since the aboriginal 2000s. 

Lifestyle factors like diet, deficiency of workout and sedentary lifestyle person each been blamed, though these causes neglect to explicate wherefore physically acceptable radical similar Mancini person progressively been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. 

The latest evidence, published successful April, besides suggests puerility vulnerability to a toxin released by E. coli bacteria could summation the hazard of colorectal crab by triggering inflammation and altering the equilibrium of the gut microbiome. 

Marijuana was besides linked to colorectal crab in a caller study, arsenic it is thought to artifact tumor-suppressing cells.  

Mancini has a household past of the disease, arsenic his father, Tony, had been diagnosed with signifier 2 colorectal crab successful 2011 astatine property 58. 

However, investigating shows the younger Mancini has nary circumstantial genes thought to summation the hazard of cancer.

Due to his household history, Mancini was owed to person his archetypal colonoscopy astatine 35 years old, 10 years earlier than the recommended age.  

He told this website: 'It was conscionable household past and atrocious luck.' 

Stage 3 colon crab has a 73 percent five-year endurance rate.  

A fewer days aft his colonoscopy, Mancini underwent country successful March 2020 to region a information of the tumor successful his colon and helium started chemotherapy astir a period later.  

Every 2 weeks for six months helium traveled from Washington DC to Johns Hopkins Hospital successful Baltimore, Maryland, for 4.5-hour chemotherapy infusions. 

He said: 'I'd person 3 oregon 4 days of truly feeling sick and unideal, and past I'd person 9 days to benignant of retrieve and consciousness similar myself. I got utilized to the regular of it. 

'It evidently was thing I ne'er imagined going through, ne'er thought I was going to spell through, but you person to instrumentality it time by time and truly admit the days that you consciousness steadfast and effort to unrecorded a mean beingness erstwhile you tin successful between.'

Mancini's crab meant helium had to beryllium retired the 2020-2021 play with the Orioles, though his teammates would clasp Zoom meetings truthful helium could enactment progressive with the team.

At the extremity of his six-month attraction regimen, his teammates gifted him a signed squad representation frame with an representation of them each wearing '#F16HT' t-shirts, a notation to his azygous fig of 16.

He said: 'It was truly adjuvant to person immoderate semblance of inactive being connected a squad passim each of this.

'Having that beardown enactment strategy and radical that attraction astir you truly helps you get done it a lot. Being susceptible and letting others assistance you retired is paramount to getting done and successful your recovery.'

Mancini completed crab attraction successful September 2020 and was declared disease-free. And by the clip the 2021-2022 play began, helium was backmost connected the tract with the Orioles and past the Houston Astros.

He adjacent helped the Astros triumph the World Series successful 2022.  

After taking a twelvemonth disconnected from baseball, helium present plays for Reno Aces, a insignificant league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, with hopes of making it backmost to the large leagues.

'I consciousness large physically,' helium told DailyMail.com.

While moving connected his carnal health, helium has chopped processed foods and seed oils retired of his diet, arsenic caller probe suggests they could rise the hazard of colon cancer.  

Now 5 years crab free, Mancini undergoes scans each six months and bloodwork each 3 months to cheque for recurrence. Though he's backmost successful premier shape, helium admits the fearfulness of his crab returning takes a toll.

Mancini told this website: 'It's thing that ne'er genuinely leaves you.

'Whenever you're going done it, you're successful combat oregon formation mode, and it's large to decorativeness chemotherapy, but the travel is not truly over.

'It's a years-long process. It's not conscionable a six period happening that you spell through.'

Mancini besides mentors different colon crab patients, overmuch similar others did for him during his treatments. Most of those who scope out, helium said, are nether 50. His nonprofit, the Trey Mancini Foundation, besides provides resources for detecting colon crab symptoms, which typically see humor successful the stool, abdominal symptom and abrupt value loss. 

He said: 'I took it arsenic a work to assistance others and dispersed consciousness and beryllium there, due to the fact that that's what helped me. When I was going done it was talking to erstwhile survivors that truly gave maine hope. 

'So if I tin bash that for others, it's the slightest I tin do.'

But his astir important milestone is coming this fall: his archetypal child, a babe girl. Nothing other compares to that, helium said, including winning the World Series.

Mancini told this website: 'I can't hold to beryllium a father. Five years ago, I wasn't definite however agelong I was going to live. So to beryllium present present and to person a babe miss connected the way, I conscionable aftermath up each day, and I'm truthful appreciative, and can't hold to conscionable her this fall. 

'I'm truly appreciative to beryllium wherever I americium close now.'