A little over a month ago, the world learned the news of the diagnosis of cancer of the princess of Wales, Kate Middleton. The wife of the heir to the British crown is 42 years old, and she is perhaps the most famous example of what is most often perceived: There are more and more cancer diagnoses in people under 50 years of age.
The numbers don’t lie: the latest global study shows that the number of people under 50 who suffer from cancer has increased almost 80% in three decadesand early-onset cancer increased from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019.
Furthermore, the study, published in the journal BMJ Oncology, reveals that cancer deaths in adults forty, thirty or less years old increased by 27%.
As stated in the Mirror In a report, despite these increases, cancer remains more prevalent in people over 50. Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, tells this medium: “Globally, we are seeing a small increase in rates of early-onset cancers, which affect people ages 25 to 49. While the increase may seem large, it is important to remember that. 90% of all cancers affect people over 50 years of age.
“There is no clear answer to what is causing the increase, but the preventable risk factors, genetics and improvements in early detection could play a role,” Sharp says.
“More research is needed to examine the causes of early-onset cancer, so we can better understand why more people under 50 years old are diagnosed with this disease,” he adds.
The key to colon cancer
The doctor Shuji Oginoprofessor at Harvard University (USA), and doctor Tomotaka Ugaia researcher at the same institution, have been studying changes to potentially explain the increase in cancer incidents among younger people.
According to their first results, they have observed how our lifestyles and our environment can affect the way diseases evolve and progress.
Their first clue was an economic boom in the 1950s after the Second World War, and after that, the fact that cancer cases in younger people were detected in richer countries. It was the time of the boom of new products and fast food.
The two scientists began researching colon cancer in particular after discovering that rates of early onset were increasing since the 1990s, when people born in 1950 began developing the disease. much earlier than previous generations.
Evidence shows that changes in lifestyle and diet contribute to an increase in cancer in people over 50, because as people age, changes develop in your cells.
But early exposure to the same risks could make the chances of developing cancer start earlier. “From our data, we observe something called the birth cohort effect“explains Ogino.
“Since 1950, we discovered that each successive generation has an increased risk of cancer early onset. Someone born in 1960 has a higher risk than someone born in 1950, and someone born in 1970 has a higher risk than someone born in 1960. It’s just continuing,” explains the oncologist.
This is especially visible in cancer of the digestive system. “In reality, many types of cancer share many risk factors,” Ogino said. “Obviously, the whole body is interconnected and, with food, there is a line that goes from the mouth to the anus,” he says.
Of the twelve types of cancer that the study found were increasingly common among those under 50, eight were related to the digestive system. “Our diet has changed a lot,” Ogino continued.
“We eat more processed and refined foods and sugar. “That could be a clue, but we don’t know exactly how different factors could have contributed to the increase in early-onset cancers,” the Harvard doctor confesses.
The latest global study into the number of under-50s suffering from cancer was led by the University of Edinburgh and Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China. The highest rates of early-onset cancers were recorded in Western Europe and North America, according to this study.
Researchers believe that diets rich in red meat and salt, while low in fruit and milkalong with alcohol and tobacco consumption, were the main risk factors for common cancers among those under 50 years of age.
They also cited physical inactivity, excess weight and high blood sugar levels. Experts estimate that by 2030, Early-onset cancer cases will increase by another 31%with people in their 40s being the ones who will be most at risk.
The role of the microbiome
Researchers are particularly interested in how what we eat and dietary changes over the decades have affected the microbiomewhich are the bacteria that live in our digestive system and contribute to our health and our immune system.
Looking at Ugai and Ogino’s study on the birth cohort effect, they have argued that it is also important to study how changes in diet while we are young can change the balance of bacteria in our intestines and act as a risk factor for early-onset cancer.
In an American study published last monthresearchers discovered that a specific subtype of a microbe commonly found in the mouth is able to travel to the intestine and grow within colorectal cancer tumors.
This microbe is also responsible for boost cancer progression and leads to worse patient outcomes after cancer treatment, according to the study.
“We have consistently seen that patients with colorectal tumors containing fusobacterium nucleatum have worse survival and prognosis compared to patients without the microbe,” he explained Susan Bullman, Fred Hutch cancer microbiome researcher and co-corresponding author of the study.
“We are now discovering that a specific subtype of this microbe is responsible for tumor growth. This suggests that therapy and screening targeting this subgroup within the microbiota would help people who have a increased risk of colorectal cancer more aggressive,” adds Bullman.
The levels of fusobacterium have been related to diets rich in processed meat and carbonated drinks. Meanwhile, new research is currently being considered that suggests that increased intestinal yeast infections and antibiotic use may be a major contributor to cases of colon cancer, which is the second leading cause of premature death in adults under the age of 10. 55 years.
According to Fight Colon Cancera nonprofit organization, the number of people under age 55 diagnosed with colorectal cancer has nearly doubled in just a decade. The mortality rate has increased by 90% in the last two decades.
The role of antibiotics
The US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 30% of the approximately 154 million antibiotics that doctors prescribe annually are “medically unnecessary” and contain ingredients that kill important bacteria in the intestine.
Sarah Perrotta researcher at the University of Aberdeen, states that “the right side of the intestine has a greater diversity of bacteria.”
“So it all makes sense when we think about the contents of the gut, the activity of the gut microbiome, and the theory of bowel cancer development“says Perrott. Although your studypublished in 2022, showed few links between antibiotics and colon cancer, almost all other types of cancer diagnoses were associated with antibiotic overuse.
Another study carried out in Swedenon the other hand, showed an absolute link between antibiotics and rectal cancer. Cynthia L. Sears, professor of medicine and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, was a co-author of a 2021 UK study that stated, “we would never say that these are more than associations. But the fact that they are reproducible elements, really, in very different populations, makes us think that this could be real.”
Premature aging
On the other hand, researchers in the United States believe that the higher rates of cancer in younger people could have to do with the aging of cells beyond their age.
A new studycarried out by researchers from the University of Washington, revealed that those with faster than average aging had a 17% higher risk of developing a cancerous tumor.
Ruiyi Tiana graduate student at the University of Washington and first author of the study, said: “Unlike chronological age, biological age can be influenced by factors such as diet, physical activity, mental health, and environmental stressors.” .
“Accumulating evidence suggests that younger generations may be aging more rapidly than expected, likely due to a earlier exposure to various risk factors and environmental insults,” continues Tian.
Those who scored highest in accelerated aging cells had twice as many risk of developing early-onset lung cancerthe study revealed.
They were also 60% more likely to suffer from a stomach tumor and 80% higher risk of developing uterine cancer.
Anna Blaesan expert on the effect of biological aging on cancer survivors at the University of Minnesota, says the lungs may be at greater risk of aging compared to other tissues due to their inability to regenerate.
And in this situation, what to do? Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s, one of the UK’s leading cancer support charities, tells Mirror that “it’s interesting to see that some research is now emerging that shows that encouraging a healthy lifestyle could reduce the disease burden of early-onset cancer.”
“We are certainly aware of an increase in the number of younger people coming to us for support after diagnosis and at that timepeople often want to reflect on how they came to have cancer,” Lee says.
“And what we do know is how small lifestyle changes, even after diagnosis, can make a big difference when it comes to helping people ‘prepare’ both mentally and physically for cancer treatment,” he continues.
“This can help people feel more in control and be in the best possible place to start treatment more easily and can also help with recovery“he concludes.
