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Medscape
19-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Many Early-Onset Cancers Increasing, Particularly in Women
Rates of certain cancers in the United States — including breast, colorectal, and thyroid cancers — increased between 2010 and 2019 among patients aged less than 50 years, while overall cancer incidence and mortality rates did not increase, a new study found. Among the more than two million cases of early-onset cancer diagnosed during this period, 63.2% were in women, researchers reported recently in Cancer Discovery . Breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and melanoma were the most common early-onset cancers in women. Among men, the most common were colorectal cancer, testicular cancer, and melanoma. Researchers from the National Cancer Institute analyzed cancer incidence data from the United States Cancer Statistics database for 2010-2019 and national death certificate data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 2010 to 2022. The team excluded incidence data from 2020 and 2021, which was artificially low due to COVID. The researchers divided the data according to age groups: The early-onset age groups were 15-29, 30-39, and 40-49 years, and the late-onset groups were 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79 years. The team also estimated the expected number of early-onset cases in 2019 by multiplying 2010 age-specific cancer incidence rates by population counts for 2019. First author Meredith Shiels, of the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that the largest absolute increase in incidence of early-onset cancers, compared with expected incidence, were for breast (n = 4834 additional cancers), colorectal (n = 2099), kidney (n = 1793), and uterine cancers (n = 1209). These diagnoses accounted for 80% of the additional cancer diagnoses in 2019 vs 2010. Looking at increases by age group, Shiels and colleagues reported that 1.9% of all cancers occurred in overall early-onset cohort 15- to 49-year-olds (age-standardized incidence rate of 39.8 per 100,000), and the incidence was greater in the older cohorts: 3.6% for 30- to 39-year-olds (123.5 per 100,000) and 8.8% for 40- to 49-year-olds (293.9 per 100,000). Overall, 14 of 33 cancer types significantly increased in incidence in at least one early-onset age group. Among these 14 cancer types, five — melanoma, plasma cell neoplasms, cervical cancer, stomach cancer, and cancer of the bones and joints — showed increases only in early-onset age groups, not in late-onset age groups. For example, between 2010 and 2019, cervical cancer rates increased by 1.39% per year among 30- to 39-year-olds, melanoma rates increased by 0.82% per year among 40- to 49-year-olds, and stomach cancer rates increased by 1.38% per year. The remaining nine cancer types increased in at least one early-onset and one late-onset group. These included female breast, colorectal, kidney, testicular, uterine, pancreatic cancers as well as precursor B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome. For four of the 14 cancer types with increasing incidence rates — testicular cancer, uterine cancer, colorectal cancer, and cancer of the bones and joints — mortality also increased in at least one early-onset age group, whereas the remaining 10 cancer types increased in incidence without an increase in mortality for any age group. Shiels and her colleagues aren't the first to address the rising incidence of early-onset cancers. In a keynote lecture at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2024 Annual Meeting, Irit Ben-Aharon, MD, PhD, from the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, noted that from 1990-2019, the global incidence of early-onset cancer increased by 79%. Although the current study doesn't identify drivers of rising cancer rates in younger patients, 'descriptive data like these provide a critical starting point for understanding the drivers of rising rates of cancer in early-onset age groups and could translate to effective cancer prevention and early detection efforts,' Shiels said in a press release. For instance, 'recent guidelines have lowered the age of initiation for breast and colorectal cancer screening based, at least partially, on observations that rates for these cancers are increasing at younger ages.' This study is 'a great step forward' toward understanding the increasing incidence of early-onset cancers, agreed Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD, from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who wasn't involved in the research. The investigators provide new details, particularly by breaking down the early- and late-onset age groups into subcategories, and by comparing incidence and mortality rates, Ogino noted. 'Mortality is a great endpoint because if the increased in early incidence is just an effect of [increased] screening we won't see a mortality increase,' Ogino said. But 'we need more data and some way to tease out the screening effect.' Plus, he added, 'we need more mechanistic studies and tissue-based analyses to determine if early-onset cancers that are increasing in incidence are a different beast, rather than just an earlier beast.' This study was funded by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Cancer Research. Shiels declared no conflicts of interest.
Global News
09-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Which cancers are increasing in younger adults? A new study has answers
Cancer before age 50 is rare, but increasing, in the United States and researchers want to know why. A new government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers, finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney and uterine cancers. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute looked at data that included more than two million cancers diagnosed in people 15 to 49 years old between 2010 and 2019. Of 33 cancer types, 14 cancers had increasing rates in at least one younger age group. About 63 per cent of the early-onset cancers were among women. 1:46 Call for colon cancer screening age to be lowered after late terminal diagnosis 'These kinds of patterns generally reflect something profound going on,' said Tim Rebbeck of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who studies cancer risk and was not involved in the research. 'We need to fund research that will help us understand.' Story continues below advertisement The findings were published Thursday in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. How many extra cancers are we talking about? The researchers compared cancer rates in 2019 to what would be expected based on 2010 rates. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Breast cancer made up the largest share of the excess cancers, with about 4,800 additional cases. There were 2,000 more colorectal cancers compared with what would be expected based on the 2010 rates. There were 1,800 more kidney cancers and 1,200 additional uterine cancers. Reassuringly, death rates were not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, although increasing death rates were seen for colorectal, uterine and testicular cancers. Why is this happening? Explanations will take more research. The big databases used for the study don't include information on risk factors or access to care. Theories abound and a big meeting is planned later this year to bring together experts in the area. Story continues below advertisement 'Several of these cancer types are known to be associated with excess body weight and so one of the leading hypotheses is increasing rates of obesity,' said lead author Meredith Shiels of the National Cancer Institute. Advances in cancer detection and changes in screening guidelines could be behind some early diagnoses. 2:08 Self advocating a key step in accessing mammograms under 50, experts say For breast cancer, the trend toward women having a first child at older ages is a possible explanation. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are known to reduce risk. It's not a uniform trend for all cancers This isn't happening across the board. Cancer rates in people under 50 are going down for more than a dozen types of cancer, with the largest declines in lung and prostate cancers. Story continues below advertisement Cigarette smoking has been declining for decades, which likely accounts for the drop in lung cancer among younger adults. The drop in prostate cancer is likely tied to updated guidelines discouraging routine PSA testing in younger men because of concerns about overtreatment.
Euronews
09-05-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Which cancers are rising among people under age 50?
Cancer before the age of 50 is rare but increasing, and researchers want to know why. A new US government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers, finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney, and uterine cancers. Scientists looked at data that included more than two million cancers diagnosed in people ages 15 to 49 between 2010 and 2019 in the US. Of 33 cancer types, 14 cancers had increasing rates in at least one younger age group. About 63 per cent of the early-onset cancers were among women, according to the study published on Thursday in the journal Cancer Discovery. "These kinds of patterns generally reflect something profound going on," said Tim Rebbeck of the US-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who studies cancer risk and was not involved in the research. "We need to fund research that will help us understand". The researchers compared cancer rates in 2019 to what would be expected based on 2010 rates. Breast cancer made up the largest share of the excess cancers, with about 4,800 additional cases. Meanwhile, there were 2,000 more colorectal cancers, 1,800 more kidney cancers, and 1,200 additional uterine cancers than would be expected. Reassuringly, death rates were not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, although increasing death rates were seen for colorectal, uterine, and testicular cancers. Explanations will take more research. The big databases used for the study don't include information on risk factors or access to care. Theories abound, and a big meeting is planned later this year to bring together experts in the area. "Several of these cancer types are known to be associated with excess body weight, and so one of the leading hypotheses is increasing rates of obesity," said lead author Meredith Shiels of the US' National Cancer Institute. Advances in cancer detection and changes in screening guidelines could be behind some early diagnoses. For breast cancer, the trend toward women having a first child at older ages is a possible explanation. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are known to reduce risk. This isn't happening across the board. Cancer rates in people under 50 are going down for more than a dozen types of cancer, with the largest declines in lung and prostate cancers. Cigarette smoking has been declining in the US for decades, which likely accounts for the drop in lung cancer among younger adults. The drop in prostate cancer is likely tied to updated guidelines discouraging routine PSA testing in younger men because of concerns about overtreatment. A medication to treat men's hair loss comes with a rare risk of suicidal thoughts, the European Union's drugs regulator has determined. The safety committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it reviewed 313 reports of suicidal ideation among people taking the drug finasteride, which can stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss for men aged 18 to 41. Finasteride is sold in 1 mg tablets under brand names such as Propecia. Meanwhile, 5 mg tablets are used to treat prostate enlargement that can cause problems urinating. Most of the reports of suicidal thoughts came from people taking the 1 mg tablets, but 'the frequency of the side effect is unknown,' the EMA concluded. Finasteride – which already comes with warnings about mood changes, such as depression and suicidal ideation – will remain on the shelves because the safety committee concluded that its benefits outweigh its risks. But the 1 mg tablets will now come with a card that reminds people of the risks and advises them on how to handle side effects, which can also include decreased sex drive or erectile dysfunction, the EMA said. The agency said people who experience mood changes while taking finasteride 1 mg should stop taking it and seek medical advice. The warnings will also be added to the medicine dutasteride, which is another treatment for prostate enlargement. The EMA safety committee did not have evidence linking the drug to suicidal thoughts, but because dutasteride works the same way as finasteride, the information will be added as a precaution. The agency noted that there were only a few hundred reports of suicidal ideation among about 270 million patients taking finasteride and 82 million taking dutasteride.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Cancer before age 50 is increasing. A new study looks at which types
New York: Cancer before age 50 is rare, but increasing, in the United States and researchers want to know why. A new government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers , finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney and uterine cancers. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute looked at data that included more than 2 million cancers diagnosed in people 15 to 49 years old between 2010 and 2019. Of 33 cancer types, 14 cancers had increasing rates in at least one younger age group. About 63% of the early-onset cancers were among women. "These kinds of patterns generally reflect something profound going on," said Tim Rebbeck of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who studies cancer risk and was not involved in the research. "We need to fund research that will help us understand." The findings were published Thursday in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research . How many extra cancers are we talking about? The researchers compared cancer rates in 2019 to what would be expected based on 2010 rates. Breast cancer made up the largest share of the excess cancers, with about 4,800 additional cases. There were 2,000 more colorectal cancers compared with what would be expected based on the 2010 rates. There were 1,800 more kidney cancers and 1,200 additional uterine cancers. Reassuringly, death rates were not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, although increasing death rates were seen for colorectal, uterine and testicular cancers. Why is this happening? Explanations will take more research. The big databases used for the study don't include information on risk factors or access to care. Theories abound and a big meeting is planned later this year to bring together experts in the area. "Several of these cancer types are known to be associated with excess body weight and so one of the leading hypotheses is increasing rates of obesity," said lead author Meredith Shiels of the National Cancer Institute. Advances in cancer detection and changes in screening guidelines could be behind some early diagnoses. For breast cancer, the trend toward women having a first child at older ages is a possible explanation. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are known to reduce risk. It's not a uniform trend for all cancers This isn't happening across the board. Cancer rates in people under 50 are going down for more than a dozen types of cancer, with the largest declines in lung and prostate cancers. Cigarette smoking has been declining for decades, which likely accounts for the drop in lung cancer among younger adults. The drop in prostate cancer is likely tied to updated guidelines discouraging routine PSA testing in younger men because of concerns about overtreatment.
08-05-2025
- Health
Cancer before age 50 is increasing. A new study looks at which types
Cancer before age 50 is rare, but increasing, in the United States and researchers want to know why. A new government study provides the most complete picture yet of early-onset cancers, finding that the largest increases are in breast, colorectal, kidney and uterine cancers. Scientists from the National Cancer Institute looked at data that included more than 2 million cancers diagnosed in people 15 to 49 years old between 2010 and 2019. Of 33 cancer types, 14 cancers had increasing rates in at least one younger age group. About 63% of the early-onset cancers were among women. 'These kinds of patterns generally reflect something profound going on,' said Tim Rebbeck of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who studies cancer risk and was not involved in the research. 'We need to fund research that will help us understand." The findings were published Thursday in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The researchers compared cancer rates in 2019 to what would be expected based on 2010 rates. Breast cancer made up the largest share of the excess cancers, with about 4,800 additional cases. There were 2,000 more colorectal cancers compared with what would be expected based on the 2010 rates. There were 1,800 more kidney cancers and 1,200 additional uterine cancers. Reassuringly, death rates were not rising for most cancers in the young adult age groups, although increasing death rates were seen for colorectal, uterine and testicular cancers. Explanations will take more research. The big databases used for the study don't include information on risk factors or access to care. Theories abound and a big meeting is planned later this year to bring together experts in the area. 'Several of these cancer types are known to be associated with excess body weight and so one of the leading hypotheses is increasing rates of obesity,' said lead author Meredith Shiels of the National Cancer Institute. Advances in cancer detection and changes in screening guidelines could be behind some early diagnoses. For breast cancer, the trend toward women having a first child at older ages is a possible explanation. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are known to reduce risk. This isn't happening across the board. Cancer rates in people under 50 are going down for more than a dozen types of cancer, with the largest declines in lung and prostate cancers. Cigarette smoking has been declining for decades, which likely accounts for the drop in lung cancer among younger adults. The drop in prostate cancer is likely tied to updated guidelines discouraging routine PSA testing in younger men because of concerns about overtreatment. ___
