Article Summary
Cancer rates in people under 50 are increasing in the United States, with the most significant increases in breast, colorectal, kidney, and uterine cancers. These statistics, gathered by the National Cancer Institute, show that 63% of the early-onset cancers were among women. While death rates are not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, the reasons behind these increased diagnoses require more research.
What This Means for You
- Stay informed about the increasing frequency of early-onset cancers, particularly breast, colorectal, kidney, and uterine cancers, to ensure you are up-to-date on early detection and prevention strategies.
- Consider discussing risk factors and appropriate screening guidelines with your healthcare professional, especially if you have a family history of these cancers.
- Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet and regular exercise, can help lower the risk of certain cancers, as obesity is a possible explanation for the increase.
- Future research and discussions on early-onset cancer causes and prevention are crucial to better understand this trend and improve outcomes for the affected individuals.
Original Post
Cancer before age 50 is rare, but increasing, in the United States and researchers want to know why.
A new government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers, finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney and uterine cancers. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute looked at data that included more than 2 million cancers diagnosed in people 15 to 49 years old between 2010 and 2019.
Of 33 cancer types, 14 cancers had increasing rates in at least one younger age group. About 63% of the early-onset cancers were among women.
“These kinds of patterns generally reflect something profound going on,” said Tim Rebbeck of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who studies cancer risk and was not involved in the research. “We need to fund research that will help us understand.”
The findings were published Thursday in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
The researchers compared cancer rates in 2019 to what would be expected based on 2010 rates.
Breast cancer made up the largest share of the excess cancers, with about 4,800 additional cases. There were 2,000 more colorectal cancers compared with what would be expected based on the 2010 rates. There were 1,800 more kidney cancers and 1,200 additional uterine cancers.
Reassuringly, death rates were not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, although increasing death rates were seen for colorectal, uterine and testicular cancers.
Explanations will take more research. The big databases used for the study don’t include information on risk factors or access to care. Theories abound and a big meeting is planned later this year to bring together experts in the area.
“Several of these cancer types are known to be associated with excess body weight and so one of the leading hypotheses is increasing rates of obesity,” said lead author Meredith Shiels of the National Cancer Institute.
Advances in cancer detection and changes in screening guidelines could be behind some early diagnoses.
For breast cancer, the trend toward women having a first child at older ages is a possible explanation. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are known to reduce risk.
Key Terms
- Early-onset cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, uterine cancer, risk factors, access to care, obesity, cancer screening, National Cancer Institute
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