As of: February 5, 2024, 2:21 p.m
By: Natalie Hull-Deichsel
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Cancer is by no means a disease of old age.
Which risks are also relevant for younger people and why treatment often comes too late.
The number of diagnoses, particularly for breast cancer, prostate cancer and tracheal cancer, has increased by almost 80 percent worldwide since 1990 among people under 50, an international research group has announced.
What could be the reason?
In addition to genetic factors, age, an unhealthy diet, overweight and obesity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, little exercise and diabetes are key risk factors for the development of cancer.
The reasons why more and more younger people are getting cancer appear to be primarily unhealthy diets, better diagnostic procedures for certain cancers such as new screening methods for skin cancer and, on the other hand, a lack of early detection tests for 40 to 49 year olds, for example for colon cancer.
Future cancer therapy with mRNA vaccines is of particular importance.
Cancer diagnosis: Early detection and early diagnostics are crucial in younger people
More and more younger people are being diagnosed with cancer.
This is the result of an international study.
© Imago
As a rule, early detection measures to prevent colon cancer are recommended for patients aged 50 and over.
These days, these are increasingly noticed, which means that the incidence of colon cancer in older people has decreased.
The study authors around Dr.
Xue Li from China's Zhejiang University School of Medicine speculate that the increase in cancer diagnoses among people under 50 that they observed could be related to improved early detection in industrialized countries, reports the
Pharmazeutische Zeitung
.
Their study results were published in the journal
BMJ Oncology
.
On the other hand, due to the trend, doctors are increasingly encouraging people to think about more targeted early detection measures for colon cancer, including for younger age groups.
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For their investigations, the study authors focused on data collected between 1990 and 2019 for 29 types of cancer in 204 countries among 14 to 49 year olds.
It shows that a total of 3.26 million new cancer diagnoses were made in 2019, which is an increase of 79 percent compared to 1990.
In 2019, more than a million people under the age of 50 died of cancer, particularly in Western Europe, North America and Australasia, 28 percent more than in 1990, as the
Pharmazeutische Zeitung
further reports.
Cases of breast cancer, tracheal cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer and stomach cancer showed the highest mortality rate.
And kidney and ovarian cancer also recorded a high increase in deaths.
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Increase in cancer cases: Unhealthy lifestyles also a problem among younger people
According to the researchers, it is very likely that some of these cancer cases could be delayed, if not prevented, through a healthier lifestyle.
However, education and better early detection, even for those under 50, are important.
“Colon cancer certainly has something to do with diet and our lifestyle.
[...] For example, colon cancer in young people is still diagnosed much later and usually only in an advanced stage," as oncologist Prof. Dr.
Anke Reinacher-Schick from St. Josef Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum,
summarized in an interview with
ntv.de.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. It in no way replaces a visit to the doctor. Our editorial team is not allowed to answer individual questions about medical conditions.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.