Study underscores unwelcome youthful trend: Rising risk of cancer

Pregnant with her second child in 2020, Valerie Possas noticed blood when she used the restroom. It only happened twice, the Bellmore resident said, and her obstetrician attributed it to the baby being carried low on her slim frame.

But after delivering in March 2020, Possas spotted blood again a few more times. She was directed to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy. Just 36 at the time, Possas, with no family history of the disease, soon learned age and a clean health background didn't matter. She had colon cancer.

"I was beyond shocked," said Possas, now cancer-free. "I always thought there would be more symptoms than some blood here and there."

Her cancer diagnosis at 36 fits into a concerning trend where more younger people are being diagnosed with certain cancers than those in older generations. A study published recently in the medical journal Lancet found Gen Xers, born between about 1965 and 1980, and millennials, born between about 1981 and 1996, continue to face an increased risk of developing a range of cancers when compared to their parents and grandparents.

So far, according to health experts, the reasons are not yet entirely understood. But the numbers point toward obesity as a major risk factor. According to Hyuna Sung, the study’s lead author, 10 of the 17 cancer types are linked to obesity, including endometrial, colorectal, liver and pancreatic cancers.

Sung, a senior principal scientist at the American Cancer Society, said growing evidence suggests "obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy diet increases the risk of these cancers, so investing in education," as well as the school meals for children and adolescents, is vital to reducing cancer risk.

The study suggests more exposure to carcinogenic factors early on in life could be contributing to the rise. These risk factors include a diet of ultra-processed and sugary foods, lack of exercise, and environmental chemicals, but until more research is done, experts have said the full scope of what is driving the shift remains unclear. 

Pay attention

Considering Possas, who suffered from irritable bowel syndrome since she was 13, had no genetic risk factors, doctors considered her cancer a fluke. She urged younger people to pay attention to their body and follow up if something feels off.

"It could be the most subtle sign," she said. "But I know a lot of us, when we're young, we think, 'It'll go away, it's nothing, it's fine.' But stick with it, get yourself checked, go to the doctor, and push for what you feel that you need."

While agreeing with the study's findings, other medical experts urge continued research to hunt down the cause of the spike.

"We need more basic science research into understanding what triggers cells to turn into cancer cells, and then we can take that basic science understanding and look at a whole variety of chemicals in our environment and see which ones are actually exerting that biological effect," said Dr. Larry Norton, a senior vice president at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan who was not part of the study.

The new study looked at more than 23 million patients ages 25 to 84 who had been diagnosed with 34 types of cancer from 2000 to 2019. They also evaluated mortality data from more than 7 million deaths for 25 types of cancer in that same age group and time span.

It found that the incidence of 17 cancers, including breast, pancreatic and gastric cancers, increased in younger groups under age 50. For nine of the cancers, including estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer, uterine corpus cancer, colorectal cancer, certain gastric cancer, gallbladder cancer and ovarian cancer, rates declined in older people.

Of note, the incidence rate for pancreatic, kidney and small intestinal cancers in both men and women, as well as liver cancer in women, was approximately two to three times higher in people born in 1990 than those born in 1955. An incidence rate is the number of new cases of a disease divided by the number of persons at risk for the disease.

Still rare for young adults

Timothy Rebbeck, professor of medical oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, who was not part of the study, said it’s important to note that cancer remains rare for younger populations.

"Cancer is still a disease of older individuals," Rebbeck said. "People don't necessarily need to be worried that their cancer risks are becoming super high and that they have to be terribly concerned about being diagnosed with or dying of cancer, but the rates are increasing, and it is important for people to think about how to prevent cancer."

For Rori Zura, of Commack, 33 in 2020 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, the discovery of a lump happened while she was getting ready for a job interview. Zura first attributed the lump to hormonal changes linked to her menstrual cycle. But when the mass failed to go away, she visited her doctor and further testing later confirmed the worst. 

Now cancer-free, she is a personal trainer who believes minimizing the risk factors most commonly associated with the disease is the key to better health. 

"There's no foolproof way to prevent cancer, but there are things that you can do that are within your control: Move more, eat better, listen to your body," Zura said. "Make sure you understand that you are in the driver’s seat of your life."