In recent years, especially from the 21st century, there has been an increased risk of breast, colorectal and other forms of cancer among individuals in their 20s, 30s and 40s in various countries such as the UK, the US, France and Australia. An international cooperation of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer shows the same pattern of increasing cancer rates in younger adults except for older age countries in 14 countries where the age trend remains constant. Surge in Early-Onset Cancers Among Young Adults.
Breast Cancers Trends
For the whole population, breast cancer occurrences have been increasing at the rate of 1% per year and for the subgroup of women under the age of 50 years, at 1.4% per year. Even with a 10% drop in breast cancer deaths within the last ten years, a rise in the proportion of cases culminating before the age of 45 years remains a disturbing trend. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reported an increase of 79% in earlier-age cancer incidences from 1990 to the year 2019, with cancer deaths increasing by 29%.
Challenges in Diagnosing Early-Onset Cancers
Sonali Johnson, head of advocacy at the UICC, notes that fatigue or troubles with passing stool are not uncommon for patients at a young age, which might decrease the appropriate engagement of such patients and deepen the time frame for correct diagnosis.
Aggressive Cancers in Younger Patients
The number of individuals under 40 being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer has surged significantly. Eileen O’Reilly, a gastrointestinal oncologist, reports that young patients often present with more aggressive tumors compared to older patients. While older patients may not have comorbid diseases, they frequently face poor prognoses.
Lack of Genetic Explanation
Traditionally, researchers linked factors like BRCA mutations to early-onset cancers; however, they find these mutations in only a small fraction of younger patients. O’Reilly emphasizes that many patients with young-onset, non-hereditary cancers exhibit more aggressive characteristics than those diagnosed later in life.
The urgency to Understand the Causes: The growing number of cancer cases among young adults has been a disturbing trend among cancer treatment professionals who have stated that there is a dire need to identify the causes. If these trends were to progress, there are high chances that they might undo the achievements made within the past few decades towards controlling cancer and add more to the disease burden in the future.
