Cancer cases among young people have exploded globally, with the phenomenon puzzling doctors, according to the report Wall Street Journal. Rates of diagnosis in the United States rose in 2019 to 107.8 cases per 100,000 people under 50, a 12.8% increase from 95.6 in 2000. A study published in BMJ Oncology last year reported a significant global increase in cancers in people under 50, with the highest rates in North America, Australia and Western Europe.
By the Observator editorial team on 12.01.2024, 10:57
Doctors are in a race against time to discover the causes of this alarming phenomenon and how to identify young people who are at increased risk. They suspect that changes affecting the way we live – less physical activity, more ultra-processed foods, new toxins – have increased the risk of disease for younger generations.
“Patients are getting younger and younger,” says Dr. Andrea Cercek, who directs a program for early-stage gastrointestinal cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “There’s probably an environmental change, either in our diet, or in our drugs, or in something we haven’t identified yet.”
The death rate from cancer in the United States has fallen by a third since 1991, thanks to declining numbers of smokers and improvements in treatment. Screening for earlier detection of cancers, including breast cancer, has also contributed to this decline.
Although this disease still affects the elderly more often than the young, the increase in early stage cancers is an increasingly harsh reality. One in five new colorectal cancer patients in 2019 was under the age of 55, nearly double the number in 1995. These younger patients are often diagnosed at advanced stages. The death rate from colorectal cancer among patients over the age of 65 is decreasing, but for those under 50, it is increasing.
Doctors are increasingly alarmed
“We’re seeing more and more young people who don’t fit the classic stereotype that cancer is a disease of aging,” said Dr. Monique Gary, medical director of the cancer program at Grand View Health in Pennsylvania. In hopes of identifying cases earlier, medical groups have lowered the recommended age to start screening for breast cancer to 40 and to 45 for colorectal cancer. Some people who are diagnosed at an advanced stage are still too young for such screenings to be recommended.
Doctors are desperate to find out what puts people at such high risk. “If we don’t understand what’s going on now, there’s a whole generation that’s going to have to deal with this problem,” said Dana-Farber’s Dr. Kimmie Ng.
Studies suggest that the risk of developing some types of cancer at a young age has increased for each generation born since the 1950s. One study found that people born in the 1990s have double the risk for new-onset colon cancer and four times the risk high for rectal cancer compared to people born around 1950.
“We need to find out why,” said Ahmedin Jemal, study author and senior vice president at the American Cancer Society. “Otherwise, the progress we’ve made over the past 50 years could be halted or reversed.”
Cancer begins with genetic mutations that cause cells to multiply uncontrollably, spreading and forming tumors. These mutations accumulate with age, so the risks of cancer also increase. For many young people, however, something triggers this cascade of chaotic cell production earlier.
“We are getting less and less healthy”
Researchers are examining possible causes, from inactive lifestyles to microplastics. Oncologists found a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer at a young age among women who spent a lot of time watching television. Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during high school was also associated with a higher risk. Even cesarean delivery appeared to link another group of women with a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer early.
Fried and processed foods are considered in other studies of new-onset colorectal cancer, while diets high in fiber, fruits, and vegetables are likely to lower risks. Cancers, including colorectal, breast and pancreatic, have been linked to obesity, and studies support a link between excess weight and some early cancers.
But doctors said obesity and lifestyle cannot fully explain the plight of the people who come to their clinic. “Many of the young patients are very healthy,” said Dr. Y. Nancy You, a colorectal cancer surgeon at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Some doctors suspect that exposures to cancer-causing factors may have started in patients’ childhood, which is difficult to trace. Unlike the situation in the 20th century, when smoking increased the number of lung cancer deaths, doctors suspect that there is no single carcinogen responsible for the current trends. Some fear that the rising risk of cancer in young people is a sign of deeper problems. “Is it part of a larger trend, are we getting less healthy?” asks Dr. Sachin Apte, chief clinical officer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.
Health Observatory Cancer cases among young people have exploded worldwide. Doctors are alarmed: We must discover why
2024-01-12 08:50:00
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