Cancer diagnosis rates amongst older adults have declined, but there was a substantial spike in certain forms of cancers amongst young adults within the U.S., especially in young women, a latest study has found.

In the newest government-funded study, which involved 17 National Cancer Institute registries, researchers observed a concerning trend of accelerating cases of gastrointestinal, endocrine and breast cancers in people younger than 50.

The study evaluated data from around 560,000 patients within the U.S. who were diagnosed with early-onset cancer (cancer before 50 years) between 2010 and 2019. The findings of the study were published within the Jama Network journal.

Researchers found that overall early-onset cancer diagnoses spiked by around 1% through the period, while the speed was around 19% for people within the 30-39 age group.

“It is a population that has had less focus in cancer research and their numbers are getting greater, so it is important to do more research to know why this is going on,” Paul Oberstein, director of the Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Program at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, told Washington Post. Oberstein was not involved within the study.

Breast cancer accounted for the best variety of cases, while the speed of increase was highest (15%) for gastrointestinal cancers, including the colon, appendix, and bile duct cancers.

“Although breast cancer had the best variety of incident cases, gastrointestinal cancers had the fastest-growing incidence rates amongst all early-onset cancers. These data could also be useful for the event of surveillance strategies and funding priorities,” the researchers wrote.

Early-onset cancers in women increased by 4.4%, while the speed declined amongst men by nearly 5%. Researchers also found that the rise in early-onset cancers was highest amongst American Indians or Alaska Natives, Asians and Hispanics, while the expansion rates remained stable in white people and decreased amongst Black people.

Although the precise reason behind the spike in cancer cases amongst young adults just isn’t known, experts imagine aspects akin to obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, improper sleep and a sedentary lifestyle play a task. Exposure to pollutants and carcinogenic chemicals also contributes to the rise in cases.

Published by Medicaldaily.com