Warning of sharp rise in cancer rates among under-50s

The number of younger people, aged under 50, being diagnosed with cancer has risen by nearly 80% in the past three decades, research has suggested.

While lifestyle factors such as excess weight, poorer diets and physical inactivity are likely to be contributing to rising cancer rates, the researchers cautioned that general global population growth and better diagnosis and reporting are also probable factors.

The research published in the journal BMJ Oncology, found there had been 3.26 million cases in 2019 – 79% more than in 1990. On top of this, cancer killed more than a million under-50s in 2019, a rise of over 25%.

However, these figures have to be seen alongside the fact that global populations rose by 40% in the same period, and so could actually indicate a falling death rate.

The latest study, led by the University of Edinburgh and Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, was the first of its kind to examine the issue on a global scale and the risk factors for younger adults. The data was taken from the Global Burden of Disease dataset, which covers more than 200 countries.

The researchers warned that less healthy lifestyles could be one important factor as to why cancer rates among 14- to 49-year-olds are rising. Since 1990, the incidence and deaths of early onset cancers had “substantially” increased globally, the study concluded.

“Early-onset breast, tracheal, bronchus and lung, stomach and colorectal cancers showed the highest mortality and burden in 2019. Countries with a high-middle and middle Sociodemographic Index and individuals aged 40–49 years were particularly affected,” the researchers stated.

“Dietary risk factors (diet high in red meat, low in fruits, high in sodium and low in milk, etc), alcohol consumption and tobacco use are the main risk factors underlying early-onset cancers,” they added.

But Dr Claire Knight, senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, added: “However alarming this might seem, cancer is primarily a disease of older age, with the majority of new cancer cases worldwide being diagnosed in those aged 50 and above.”

The findings follow warnings over the summer, again by Cancer Research UK, that cases of melanoma skin cancer in the UK have reached an all-time high.

In this case, the rising incidence was being fuelled by a combination of hotter summers, sunbed use, and the lure of cheap, package holidays to the sun, it said.

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