Cancer cases in younger people rising globally, study finds

Cancer cases in people under 50 have risen by as much as 79% between 1990 and 2019 worldwide, a new study has found.

Researchers found that while genetics are likely to play a part in the rise of cancer cases in young people, smoking, alcohol consumption and diets high in meat and salt but low in fruit and milk are the “main risk factors”.

Excess weight, low physical activity and high blood sugar were also a factor, the study said.

However, rates in the UK stabilised from 2010 to 2019 with the annual mortality rate from early-onset cancer “steadily decreasing”.

A team from the University of Edinburgh and the Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China analysed data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study for 29 cancers in 204 countries and regions.

They looked at new cases, deaths, health consequences and risk factors in people aged 14 to 49, estimating an annual percentage for each year.

In 2019, there were 3.26 million new cancer diagnoses for under-50s, an increase of 79.1% since 1990.

Deaths were also up by 27.7%.

Breast cancer made up the largest proportion of cases – 13.7 per every 100,000 people – while windpipe and prostate cancer cases are growing the fastest at 2.28% and 2.23% per year respectively.

The regions with the highest rates of early-onset cancers were North America, Australasia and Western Europe.

Study author Dr Xue Li, of the Centre for Global Health at the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute, said while early-onset cancer in the UK showed an “upward trend” from 1990 to 2010, “the overall incidence rate remained stable” from 2010 to 2019.

She added: “Fortunately, the annual mortality rate from early-onset cancer in the UK has been steadily decreasing, a testament to the outstanding cancer screening and treatment efforts over the past three decades".

Dr Claire Knight, senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s not fully clear what is driving the rise in early-onset cancers, but exposure to risk factors in earlier life, better detection of cancer and genetics might all play a part.”

Dr Knight said cancer remains “primarily a disease of older age”, however “alarming” the findings of the study might seem.

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