What Darryl Strawberry's Story Can Teach Us About Colon Cancer

What is on the public record

In October 1998, Darryl Strawberry, then a New York Yankees outfielder, was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer that had spread to one lymph node. He had surgery and chemotherapy. In January 2000 he said a test showed his colon was clear of cancer.

In July 2000 he told reporters the cancer had come back. On August 7 that year, surgeons at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center removed a tumor found near his left kidney. The hospital said there was no obvious distant spread, and no sign of a returning tumor inside the intestine itself.

That is the record, from UPI and ABC News at the time. This page does not go past it, and it says nothing about his health now.

Two details in that record are worth pulling out, because they come up for many people: the phrase "stage 3", and the fact that he was 36.

Stage 3 means the lymph nodes

Colon cancer is staged by how far it has traveled. Stage 3 means cancer cells have reached nearby lymph nodes, the small filters set along the drainage paths of the bowel, but have not been found in distant organs.

NCI's health-professional summary adds a detail that the single phrase hides. The number of involved nodes matters. People with one to three involved nodes have significantly better survival than people with four or more.

Staging is not a verdict. It is a map that tells the team which treatment has evidence behind it. Our page on colorectal cancer stages walks through the full set.

What treatment for stage 3 involves

Two things happen, in order.

First, surgery. NCI describes wide surgical resection and anastomosis. The surgeon takes out the segment of colon holding the tumor, along with a margin of healthy bowel and the nearby lymph nodes, then rejoins the two cut ends. A randomized trial comparing keyhole surgery with open surgery found similar three-year recurrence and survival.

Second, chemotherapy after surgery. This is called adjuvant chemotherapy. Its job is to kill cells that may have slipped away before the operation but are too few to show on a scan.

The drugs have changed since 1998. Before 2000, fluorouracil (5-FU) was the only useful adjuvant drug for this disease. Then the MOSAIC trial randomly assigned 2,246 people with removed stage 2 or stage 3 colon cancer to 5-FU with or without oxaliplatin. Adding oxaliplatin lifted three-year disease-free survival from 72.9% to 77.8%. At six years, overall survival in the stage 3 group was 72.9% with oxaliplatin and 68.7% without.

That gain has a price. In MOSAIC, 41% of people on the oxaliplatin arm had severe neutropenia, a drop in the white cells that fight infection. Another 12.4% had severe peripheral neuropathy, meaning numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, which NCI describes as reversible. Capecitabine, a pill the body turns into 5-FU, can stand in for the infusion.

Why 36 is not too young

Strawberry was 36 in 1998. That was well under any screening age then, and it is under the current one.

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends colorectal cancer screening for all adults aged 45 to 75. It lowered the starting age from 50 in 2021. That advice covers people with no symptoms and no known extra risk.

SEER's age breakdown shows why age alone is a poor filter. About 2.1% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed between 20 and 34, and 5.3% between 35 and 44. The median age at diagnosis is 66, so the disease is mostly a disease of older adults. Even so, close to one case in thirteen arrives before 45, when nobody is being screened.

The consequence is plain. Under 45, screening will not find it. Symptoms are the only way in, so symptoms have to be taken seriously. Our guide to colorectal cancer screening covers the tests for people who are eligible.

The numbers

The American Cancer Society projects 158,850 new US colorectal cancer cases in 2026 and 55,230 deaths, a forecast SEER carries on its stat page. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Five-year relative survival across all stages, for cases diagnosed in 2016 through 2022, is 65.4%.

By stage: localized 91.3%, regional 75.2%, distant 16.9%. Stage 3 sits inside the regional group. About 34% of cases are caught while localized and 37% at the regional stage.

These are group figures from thousands of people treated in past years. They do not describe any one person. They also say nothing about how many nodes were involved or which drugs were given.

When to get checked

NCI lists these as reasons to check with a doctor, at any age:

• Blood in the stool, either bright red or very dark
• A change in bowel habits that does not settle, whether diarrhea or constipation
• A feeling that the bowel does not empty fully
• Stools that are narrower or a different shape than usual
• Ongoing gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps
• Losing weight for no known reason
• Fatigue or vomiting

Two more prompts, whatever your age. Screening starts at 45 for average risk, and a parent, sibling, or child with colon or rectal cancer usually means starting sooner, so it is worth asking. And rectal bleeding put down to hemorrhoids without an examination is not a diagnosis. Our page on colorectal cancer symptoms covers what makes each of these worth pushing on.

What this does not mean

• The reports above describe 1998 and 2000. They say nothing about anyone's health today, and this page makes no claim about it.
• A return of cancer is its own event, with its own tests and its own plan. It is not a rerun of the first diagnosis.
• MOSAIC's figures are averages from a trial population. They are not a prediction for any one person.
• Being under 45 does not rule out colorectal cancer. Being over 45 with a clear colonoscopy does not make new symptoms unimportant.

Sources

• ABC News, Darryl Strawberry Says Cancer Is Back — https://abcnews.com/Sports/story?id=100845&page=1
• UPI Archives, Strawberry stable after cancer surgery — https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/08/07/Strawberry-stable-after-cancer-surgery/4412965620800/
• NCI PDQ, Colon Cancer Treatment (Health Professional Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal/hp/colon-treatment-pdq
• NCI PDQ, Colon Cancer Treatment (Patient Version) — https://www.cancer.gov/types/colorectal/patient/colon-treatment-pdq
• SEER Cancer Stat Facts, Colorectal Cancer — https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/colorect.html
• US Preventive Services Task Force, Colorectal Cancer: Screening — https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/colorectal-cancer-screening

How this article was prepared

An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.

The National Cancer Information Foundation publishes Cancer Explained. This page is for learning. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.

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