Although cancer incidence rates are rising, overall cancer deaths among young people have not increased.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have uncovered some important trends in cancer cases across the United States. Between 2010 and 2019, they found that 14 types of cancer became more common among people under the age of 50. Among these were several well-known types, including breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Interestingly, nine of the rising cancer types also showed increases in some people over 50.
At the same time, the good news is that the incidence of 19 other cancers, such as lung cancer and prostate cancer, actually went down in younger adults. Because of these offsetting trends, the overall rate of cancer diagnoses stayed steady across all age groups. Even more encouraging, the overall cancer death rate did not increase during this period.
“This study provides a starting point for understanding which cancers are increasing among individuals under age 50,” said lead investigator Meredith Shiels, Ph.D., of NIH’s National Cancer Institute. “The causes of these increases are likely to be cancer specific, including cancer risk factors becoming more common at younger ages, changes in cancer screening or detection, and updates to clinical diagnosis or coding of cancers.”