There are rising cases of breast, colorectal and other cancers in people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. What is going on?

Over the past 10 years, rates of colorectal cancer among 25 to 49 year olds have increased in 24 different countries, including the UK, US, France, Australia, Canada, Norway and Argentina.

The investigation’s early findings, presented by an international team at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) congress in Geneva in September 2024, were as eye-catching as they are concerning.

The researchers, from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Agency for Research on Cancer, surveyed data from 50 countries to understand the trend. In 14 of these countries, the rising trend was only seen in younger adults, with older adult rates remaining stable.

Based on epidemiological investigations, it seems that this trend first began in the 1990s. One study found that the global incidence of early-onset cancer had increased by 79% between 1990 and 2019, with the number of cancer-related deaths in younger people rising by 29%. Another report in The Lancet Public Health described how cancer incidence rates in the US have steadily risen between the generations across 17 different cancers, particularly in Generation Xers and Millennials.

  • acosmichippo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    113·
    1 day ago

    Old people come into contact with all that stuff too, not just young people.

    edit:

    Cancer deaths are consistently declining in the US. American Cancer Society’s 2023 report

    Despite the pandemic, and in contrast with other leading causes of death, the cancer death rate continued to decline from 2019 to 2020 (by 1.5%), contributing to a 33% overall reduction since 1991 and an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted.

    • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      According to the American Cancer Society’s 2024 stats cancer deaths are declining in some areas (ie: lung cancer) but increasing in many others.

      In 2024, 2,001,140 new cancer cases and 611,720 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States.

      • Cancer mortality continued to decline through 2021, averting over 4 million deaths since 1991 because of reductions in smoking, earlier detection for some cancers, and improved treatment options in both the adjuvant and metastatic settings.

      However, these gains are threatened by increasing incidence for 6 of the top 10 cancers.

      • Incidence rates increased during 2015–2019 by 0.6%–1% annually for breast, pancreas, and uterine corpus cancers and by 2%–3% annually for prostate, liver (female), kidney, and human papillomavirus-associated oral cancers and for melanoma.

      Incidence rates also increased by 1%–2% annually for cervical (ages 30–44 years) and colorectal cancers (ages <55 years) in young adults. Colorectal cancer was the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in both men and women younger than 50 years in the late-1990s but is now first in men and second in women.

      • Progress is also hampered by wide persistent cancer disparities; compared to White people, mortality rates are two-fold higher for prostate, stomach and uterine corpus cancers in Black people and for liver, stomach, and kidney cancers in Native American people. Source
      • acosmichippo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        7 hours ago

        you’re conflating mortality metrics with incidence metrics. increasing incidents are very likely biased by improved detection and reporting.

        anyway the point is not that cancer is going away or anything, but that you can’t easily say “pollution is giving young people cancer” as the top comment is.

      • watson387@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        42·
        1 day ago

        My point is that a lot of these things have flooded the market since the early 80s, which would make the tail end of Generation X the first generation that’s been in constant contact with these things their entire lives.

        • hemmes@lemmy.worldEnglish
          131·
          1 day ago

          Scotch Guard (PFAS) was released in the 50s and everyone went gangbusters spraying it on everything.

          Plastic based and molded products started to be seen around 1910 and surged in the 50s after WW2.

          Processed foods were a thing since the 1800s with sugars as HFCS added into everything since the 60s.

          Not to discredit what you’re saying, but, and this is solely based within the context of this particular headline discussion, it would cause you to look elsewhere. I’m thinking it’s more stress based. I’m working my butt off to evolve my small business just to survive. While we are having success and growth, it takes no less than 16 hours a day Sunday through Saturday to make it happen. I remember watching some family members and other inspiring business leaders as a kid in the 80s working regular 8 hour days and owning two homes.

          Further to that, psychological medicine is so far behind and mental health has a major, if not direct, effect on physical wellness.