Cancer rates among younger people continue to rise at an alarming rate, according to a major new study from the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The analysis looked at health data for more than 23 million U.S. patients born between 1920 and 1990 and diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2019.
Compared to baby boomers, researchers found that Gen Xers and millennials were at higher risk of developing 17 of 34 types of cancer, including leukemia, breast cancer and stomach cancer.
Millennials, born in 1990, are two to three times more likely to develop pancreatic, kidney, and small intestine cancer than baby boomers, born in 1955. Millennial women are also at higher risk of developing liver and bile duct cancer.
Additionally, nine cancers whose incidence rates have mostly declined among older generations — breast, ovarian, uterine, testicular, and anal — are on the rise among younger people.
Uterine cancer alone is 169 percent more likely to affect someone born in the 1990s than someone born in the 1930s.
The risk of death from these cancers is also increased.
This is never a good sign, and suggests that a silent generational shift in cancer risk has been occurring over the past century or so.
researcher Suspect This is partly because younger generations (those under 50) are increasingly being exposed to carcinogens during childhood and adolescence, but these dangerous exposures “are still poorly understood.”
Ten of the 17 cancer types with rising rates among millennials and Gen Xers are related to obesity, which may also be contributing to the generational gap.
“The increased risk in younger generations will be passed on as individuals age, potentially increasing the overall burden of cancer in the future and halting or reversing decades of progress against the disease.” To tell Ahmedin Jemal, a cancer epidemiologist at ACS;
“This data highlights the critical need to identify and address underlying risk factors among Gen Xers and Millennials in order to develop prevention strategies.”
The results of this analysis show that Previous researchThe study found that cancer rates in people under 50 have increased by about 80 percent over the past 30 years.
The World Health Organisation has warned that if current trends continue, cancer cases could rise by a further 77% by 2050. Officials say tobacco, alcohol, obesity and air pollution are the main contributing factors.
Other factors such as an unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and sleep disorders may also influence the development of cancer, but these factors “are still not well understood”, the researchers said. Note.
But there is some good news hidden in ACS’s recent analysis.
“Accelerating economic downturnThe study, which “demonstrates efficacy of the HPV vaccine in adolescents with cervical cancer,” shows particular efficacy in women born around 1990, the appropriate age group when the vaccine was approved in the United States.
previous the study Since the introduction of this vaccine, there has been a 90 percent reduction in cervical cancer cases.
Additionally, smoking-related cancers such as lung and pharyngeal cancer are also declining in younger birth cohorts.
“These findings add to the growing body of evidence showing increased cancer risk among baby boomers and beyond.” To tell Cancer epidemiologist Song Hyuna of ACS.
“Although cancer trends associated with date of birth have been identified, there is still no clear explanation for why these rates are increasing.”
This study The Lancet Public Health.
