Teacher, 34, who revealed Stage 4 colon cancer on ‘Jeopardy!’ recalls his first symptoms

In March 2024, Christopher Burge experienced “intense abdominal pain,” as he describes it. Then he realized he had been feeling run down and unwell for a while.

“I remember talking to my mom. I was like, ‘I can’t remember the last time I felt 100%,’” Burge, 34, of Farmers Branch, Texas, tells TODAY.com. “I always felt just a little tired or sick.”

Then he experienced some bowel changes, underwent a colonoscopy and learned he had Stage 4 colon cancer.

“I didn’t expect to get the diagnosis,” he says.

Still in the middle of treatment, Burge was recently able to accomplish a lifelong dream of competing on “Jeopardy!”

“I basically have been trying to get on ‘Jeopardy!’ since college,” he says. “(It) was pretty awesome.”

Anemia and slight bowel changes

In early 2021, Burge began experiencing acid reflux and sleep-related vocal cord spasms. His primary care physician put him on medication to control his reflux and ordered a sleep study. Then in 2023, he underwent an endoscopy. Luckily, the results came back normal.

“I don’t know if that was actually connected to the cancer or not,” Burge says.

But his problems with reflux kept him connected with his doctors, and he was undergoing regular monitoring. In 2022, his primary care doctor noticed he had anemia and tried treating him for it. Yet, his iron never reached normal levels.

Then, in March of this year, Burge experienced some stomach pain and bloating that seemed unrelated to what he ate.

“I did have ongoing issues with not feeling well in the stomach or somewhat increased frequency of bowel movements,” he says. “But not to the extent where it would be an emergency.”

When his stomach issues began, he talked to his gastroenterologist about it.

“I brought that to my GI — the symptoms plus the anemia — that got him to say we should do the colonoscopy,” he says. “It, unfortunately, found the cancer.” The tumor is partially obstructing his colon, and an MRI revealed that Burge had metastatic disease on his liver. His treatment plan includes chemotherapy before and after his surgeries.

After six rounds of chemotherapy, which he responded well to, Burge underwent surgery to resect the liver tumors in October.

 “I definitely wanted to do it while I had the chance,” he says. “Surgery is the only potentially curative option.”

Following liver surgery, Burge resumed chemotherapy. This time, he’s receiving chemotherapy directly to his liver through a hepatic artery infusion pump. He opted for this treatment because he sought out second opinions, and the other doctors recommended it. So far, he hasn’t experienced too many side effects from the chemotherapy.

“I did pretty well with the first six rounds. There was a lot of fatigue,” he says, adding that he experienced heat and cold sensitivity, too. “This one I just did on Wednesday that was the first time in two months. It’s going to be a little bit harder than the previous (ones). So, I’m not feeling great now.”

When Burge appeared on “Jeopardy!” in an episode aired Nov. 19, he shared his diagnosis to raise awareness of the increase in colon cancer, especially in young people.

Colon cancer in young people

Over the past 30 years, experts have noticed that colon cancer impacts younger people than it had in the past. It’s the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50 and the second-leading cause of cancer death after breast cancer for women in the same age group, TODAY.com previously reported.

“The continuous sharp increase in colorectal cancer in young Americans is alarming,” Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, senior vice president of surveillance and health equity science at the American Cancer Society, said in a press release last year.

Jemal and others stress the importance of early screening, such as colonoscopies.

Still, the reasons behind this increase remain unclear. Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society previously told TODAY.com that lifestyle factors, such as eating more processed foods, drinking more alcohol, obesity and sedentary habits might contribute to increasing rates of colon cancer, but they suspect there’s a missing, possibly environmental piece to understanding this trend.

Early detection of colon cancer remains essential, and symptoms that people should be aware of include:

Blood in bowel movements
Change in bowel habits, such as more frequent diarrhea or constipation
Abdominal pain without a cause
Unexpected weight loss
Exhaustion with no reason

‘Ask for an answer’

Burge hopes his story encourages others to advocate for their health.

“If you’re having unexplained symptoms, you should push to make sure they get explained,” he says. “I always encourage people to advocate for themselves. Ask for an answer. Ask for that test.”

Having colon cancer at a young age has felt tough at times.

“I always wonder if I would have presented with the same symptoms at 60, would I have had a colonoscopy recommended a lot earlier?” he says. “It obviously would have been a lot better to catch it earlier.”

A true trivia connoisseur, Burge often finds himself reading nonfiction and even random Wikipedia pages. He also played Austrailian rules football prior to diagnosis and starting treatment, and he’s continued to participate as a volunteer.

“One of the coolest things about ‘Jeopardy!’ is being in the green room and seeing other people acting like me while watching the show and not having (people) staring, being like, ‘How do you know that,’” he says.

Burge has found a lot of support online from communities of people with colon cancer. That encouraged him to seek out second opinions and helps him feel less alone. He also has a encouraging workplace and is living with his parents as he completes treatment.

While his experience with cancer has shown him how resilient he is, he admits that having cancer is “hard.” That’s why he hopes others will seek help as soon as they notice a symptom.

“Most young people, in particular, don’t think of cancer as a possibility,” he says. “Most doctors don’t think of it because it’s not that common. But it’s (becoming) more and more common.”