These 17 types of cancer are on the rise among younger generations

Some cancers may affect millennials and Gen Xers more than baby boomers, according to a new US-based study.

This study Lancet A study published this month found that 17 of the 34 most common cancers diagnosed between the ages of 25 and 84 are increasing among younger generations. More than half of the cancers are related to obesity, which coincides with the rise in childhood obesity in recent generations. Without appropriate interventions, the burden of cancer as younger generations age could affect not only those diagnosed, but also their caregivers and society as a whole, the study authors warned.

The rise in cancer rates was especially pronounced among millennials, those born around 1990. People in their mid-30s had two to three times as many new cancers of the small intestine, kidney, and pancreas as baby boomers, especially those born around 1955.

Other trends identified in the study were gender-specific, including rising rates of liver cancer among younger women.

Miranda Fidler-Benaudia, an epidemiologist at the University of Calgary and co-author of the study, said there was an increase in diagnoses of several cancers, including endometrial, gallbladder and other biliary tract cancers, testicular and colorectal cancer, as well as an increase in deaths.

“What we want to understand now is not only why these people are being diagnosed with cancer at a younger age, but why they are facing worse outcomes than generations before them,” she said.

Changes in lifestyles across generations

The study retrieved cancer and mortality data for individuals aged 25 to 84 years from 2000 to 2019 from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and the National Center for Health Statistics, covering 94% of the U.S. population.

Ten of the 17 cancers with rising rates among young people are linked to obesity. Since the late 1970s, the “obesity epidemic” has affected Americans of all ages, with those between the ages of 2 and 19 being the most affected, according to the study.

On the Canadian side of the border, there are many lifestyle and medical differences: While the U.S. childhood obesity rate reached nearly 17 percent, Canada's rate was low at 13 percent. 2016 Survey From Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Canada.

“Although the geography is similar, there are many differences and this study needs to be replicated to ensure the same trends are not occurring here,” Fidler-Benaudia said.

WATCH | Doctors discuss rising colon cancer rates among younger patients:

Colon cancer on the rise among young adults

According to data from the American Cancer Society, colon cancer rates in people under 50 have increased by 9 percent since 2020. Dr Melissa Rehm explains the risks for young people and how prevention measures can help.

Diet may be linked to an increased risk of cancer, even in people who are at a healthy weight, a study has found.

For example, increases in gastrointestinal cancers, including small intestine cancer and other cancers not related to obesity, may indicate a generational change in the types of foods people are eating.

“The way we live, the way we eat, how we prepare food, how we consume food, all of these play a role,” said Dr. Shady Ashamara, a surgical oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

The impact of early-onset cancer

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, approximately 10,000 Canadians under the age of 40 are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in 2023, representing four per cent of all cancers diagnosed.

“We don't want to scare people. Overall, the numbers are still very low,” said Ashamala, who was not involved in the study.

Still, he says he's noticed more colon cancer patients now in their 30s and 40s than when he started his career 15 years ago.

Ashamalla explained that people who are diagnosed with cancer at a young age must deal with not only the immediate health burden, but also the strain on their personal lives.

For cancer patients with young children and busy work lives, “this is a bomb that's been dropped on their lives,” he said.

Fidler-Benaudia said people diagnosed with cancer at a young age are at increased risk of chronic health conditions, early death and poor mental health, which can affect their education and job prospects.

The study suggested that without effective population-level interventions, the overall burden of cancer may increase in the future as younger generations age, affecting individual caregivers and society as a whole.

Lifestyle changes for the better

Baby Boomers may have had lower childhood obesity rates and led more active lifestyles when they were younger, but younger generations are also seeing health wins.

The study found a decline in head, mouth, and neck cancers among young men, a change the study authors suggest could be due to reduced smoking and alcohol use.

In contrast, there has been an increase in these cancers among younger women, which coincides with changes in alcohol-related behavior among women born in the 1970s and 1980s. Heavy drinking accelerated between 1990 and 2010, when these women were between 30 and 49 years old.

Smoking-related cancers, including lung cancer, are on a significant downward trend, likely due to a rapid decline in youth smoking, the study says. Fewer people diagnosed with lung cancer are dying from the disease, which researchers suggest reflects success in both prevention and treatment.

WATCH | Cancer screening may not be opening up to younger people in Canada:

Doctors say Canadian cancer screening guidelines are outdated

Cancer expert groups say Canada's national screening guidelines are a decade out of date and that more cases are being diagnosed at a stage when the disease is harder to treat.

Changes in Screening and Prevention

While many cancers can be linked to lifestyle choices, Ashamalla said he regularly sees patients with healthy lifestyles who don't fall into any of the risk factors.

For otherwise healthy patients, the diagnosis can come as a shock, as happened to Bryna Dillman, 45, of Guelph in 2020.

Dillman had blood in her stool but no other signs of cancer, so when her doctor ordered a colonoscopy, she considered canceling the procedure, then thought better of it.

When the results were in, she was quickly diagnosed with colon cancer, and Dillman said she was grateful that her doctors didn't ignore her problem and acted proactively to ensure she was properly diagnosed.

“I was so young and healthy, I never thought there was anything seriously wrong with me,” she said.

of Canadian Preventive Health Task Force Research shows that both incidence and death rates from colorectal cancer are increasing among younger people, and the institute recommends that screening for colorectal cancer begin at age 50. Ashammara says that age should, and probably will, change to 40.

of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations have recently changed to expand screening for colorectal cancer. Previously, only people over 50 were screened, but now screening is recommended for people aged 45-49. Canadian province or territory We are currently considering this transition.

“We're really winning in the over-50 population,” Ashamalla says. “The incidence of colorectal cancer is going down in the population that we're testing, so testing is absolutely key.”

Watch | Rise in colon cancer among young people is a mystery:

Colon cancer cases are on the rise among young people, but no one knows why

A new health study in the United States has uncovered an alarming trend: Colon and rectal cancers are on the rise among young adults. Doctors say they're seeing a similar trend in Canada. No one knows why, but some doctors are questioning whether younger patients should be screened.