A new National Institutes of Health (NIH) study revealed that more people under 50 are being diagnosed with certain types of cancer.
According to the NIH, from 2010-2019, “the incidence of 14 cancer types increased among people under age 50.” Cancer diagnoses of 19 other types decreased in this age group. Additionally, “the total rate of all cancers diagnosed in both younger and older age groups did not increase, nor did the rate of cancer death.”
Alarming growth was seen in colorectal and uterine cancer deaths in younger groups. Certain diagnoses rose in young groups, but not the older groups: melanoma, cervical cancer, stomach cancer, myeloma, and cancers of the bones and joints. The authors hypothesize that growing rates of obesity and earlier cancer screening could be contributing factors to the increasing cancer diagnoses in young people.
The study is published in Cancer Discovery.
