Cancer before age 50: an emerging epidemic

Boston, United States – Early-onset cancer – often referred to as cancer diagnosed in adults under the age of 50 – is an emerging global “epidemic” according to a study recently published in the journal. Reviews about the nature Clinical oncology. ^[1]

Although the rising incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is a well-documented problem, the trend appears to extend far beyond.

The authors, the Dr. Tomotaka Ugai et Shuji Ogino et al. (Harvard TH Chan School of Public HealthBoston, Massachusetts), has tracked changes in early-onset cancer diagnoses in 14 different cancers, including breast, prostate, and thyroid, over the past three decades and found increases in many countries.

Of the 14 cancers studied, eight are related to the digestive system, highlighting the potential role of diet and the oral and gut microbiota in cancer risk, the authors note.

In addition, many of the factors that appear to influence cancer risk, such as diet, exercise, sleep, vaccination against HPV and other carcinogenic microorganisms, are adjustable.

Doctors Ugai and Ogino wrote in a joint email to Medscape Medical News what ” [leurs] immediate goals were to raise awareness of the early-onset cancer epidemic and reduce exposure to risk factors. “

While the increase in the number of cancer screenings has contributed to early diagnosis, it appears that we are also seeing a real increase in the incidence of some early-onset cancers.

In detail, Ugai, Ogino et al. examined the literature and mapped trends in the incidence of 14 types of cancer in adults aged 20-49 in 44 countries between 2002 and 2012.

The authors found that, since the 1990s, the incidence of early onset cancers of the breast, colorectal, endometrium, esophagus, extrahepatic bile duct, gallbladder, head and neck , kidney, liver, bone marrow, pancreas, prostate, stomach and thyroid has increased worldwide.

In the United States, for example, the mean annual percentage change for kidney cancer was 3.6% in women and 4.1% in men, that for multiple myeloma was 2% in women and 4.1%. in men. 3% in men between 2002 and 2012.

This general trend may reflect increased exposure to risk factors in early childhood and early adulthood, although “the specific effects of individual exposures remain largely unknown,” the authors acknowledged.

From the mid-twentieth^And century, substantial changes have occurred in diet, sleep, smoking, obesity, type 2 diabetes and environmental exposure, which can affect the gut microbiota or interact with our genes to increase the incidence of cancers a early onset, the authors explain. For example, obesity, smoking, and alcohol are all well-established risk factors for pancreatic cancer and have also been linked to the risk of early-onset disease.

“Cancer is a multifactorial disease, and we are aware of the importance of genetics as a risk factor and screening for early diagnosis, but this article especially highlights the importance of lifestyle habits that can be corrected and that can slow down the increase in early-onset cancers, “said the oncologist Marleen Meyers Survival Program Director NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center from New York.

While modifiable factors such as diet and exercise can reduce the burden of these cancers, these changes are often difficult to implement, Dr. Meyers added. Furthermore, understanding the impact of certain factors, such as alcohol, obesity, physical activity and late reproduction, on cancer risk requires further research, but “there are sufficient reasons at this point to address these factors. risk for personal and public health reasons, ”he concluded.

This article originally appeared on Medscape.com under the title Is early-onset cancer an emerging global epidemic? Translated by Mona El-Guechati

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