Health experts have been concerned about the rising number cases. They hypothesized that sedentary lifestyles, eating habits, and increased screening may also play a large role behind this. This has been a great cause for concern, and right now, researchers are looking into the WHYs and HOWs behind all of it.
From the many countries found, the number of cancer cases that have been diagnosed in adults under the age of 50 has gone up, and this has happened in recent decades. In fact, a new study has pointed out to how diagnosis rates are climbing up too quickly may be addressed and explained through a better screening process or by earlier detection.
The incidence of several early-onset cancers has gone up since 1990. This is true for all over the world. Included in the list of cancers are tumors of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, liver, and pancreas. This was what the researchers had written on a report made and published in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology.
“From our data, we observed something called the birth cohort effect. This effect shows that each successive group of people born at a later time — for example, a decade-later — have a higher risk of developing cancer later in life, likely due to risk factors they were exposed to at a young age,” senior study author Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD said in a statement. He is a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Unfortunately, the risk increases after every generation, Dr. Ogino also said. “For instance, people born in 1960 experienced higher cancer risk before they turn 50 than people born in 1950, and we predict that this risk level will continue to climb in successive generations.”
To conduct the study, the researchers had to begin by examining the data on the global incidence of 14 different cancer types that had been more rampant among adults under the age of 50. This was between the years 2000 to 2012. After that, they reviewed previous studies that covered cancer risk factors. They did this in order to assess which one of these could actually contribute to the surging cancer rates in younger and middle-aged individuals.
After a thorough review, there was one clear trend that they saw: that dramatic changes in lifestyle have been in line with the steep rise in cancer cases among those under the age of 50. Researchers also saw that there were some modifiable risk factors early in life such as what they eat, how often they exercise, and if they are able to maintain a weight. These all have a crucial role when it comes to cancer risk.
There is what is often referred to as the Western diet and this includes a lot of meat, potatoes, and processed foods. What also exacerbates the risk is a sedentary lifestyle. This is common among young adults and this may explain why cancer is on the rise for the young generation who haven’t even reached 50.
Another contributing factor is the higher number of screening rates as well as better techniques for diagnosing and treating the different types of cancer when the tumors found are less advanced and this, easier to treat. This was what the study team noted, but cancer rates are also on the quick rise to be completely explained by advances in screening, the team concluded.
Another possible reason behind the increasing rates at younger ages is that the microbiome, which is the bacteria and microorganisms found in the human gut, has also changed and evolved in the years, and this may have fueled tumor growth. An unhealthy microbiome is a risk and many of the patients like eating processed foods often and drinking plenty of alcohol or sugary beverages. There’s also inactivity, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The cases for these health issues have gone up since the 1950s. The study team elaborated on this in their paper.
“Among the 14 cancer types on the rise that we studied, eight were related to the digestive system. The food we eat feeds the microorganisms in our gut,” lead study author Tomotaka Ugai, MD, PhD said. He also works at the pathology department at Brigham.
“Diet directly affects microbiome composition and eventually these changes can influence disease risk and outcomes,” Dr. Ugai also said.
It must be noted that study made wasn’t a controlled experiment that was planned and modeled to prove whether or how any specific risk factors might directly be behind the spike in cancer cases for the younger generation.
There was a limitation of the analysis. This that the researchers didn’t have enough data on cancer cases over time that involved those that came from low-income and middle-income countries. This means that it’s not possible for them to assess the global trends in cancer incidence over the years. More than these factors, they also didn’t have sufficient data on children to fully see and pinpoint which specific lifestyle circumstances early on could be most responsible for the increasing cases among adults under the age of 50.
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