Surge in Cancer Cases Among Younger Generations Identified

Surge in Cancer Cases Among Younger Generations Identified
Surge in Cancer Cases Among Younger Generations Identified. Credit | Shutterstock

United States: A new study by the American Cancer Society shows that Gen X and Millennials in the U.S. face a greater risk of near about 17 types of cancer as compared to previous generations.

Researchers who have analyzed the specific data from millions of people born between 1920 and 1990, who were already diagnosed with 34 common cancers between 2000 and 2019.

Increased Incidence of Various Cancers

As reported by abc news, The study identified increases in various cancers, including stomach, small intestine, estrogen receptor positive breast, ovarian, liver, bile duct, colorectal, uterine, testicular, gall bladder, kidney, pancreatic, and two types of blood cancer: myeloma and leukemia.

And here the subset of the mouth and throat cancers in the females and anal cancers in the males and Kaposi sarcoma in the males were also the increasingly diagnosed in the the people at a younger age than in the previous generation according to the particular study.

Rapidly Growing Cancers

The Cancers with the most of the rapid growing incidence among the younger generation are thyroid, pancreatic kidney, small intestine and the liver cancer in the females all of which were diagnosed at rates two to four times greater for the people born in 1990 compared to 1955.

Of the cancers that are being almost detected more oftenly and nine had previously shown a decline in the successive generational at some point since the year 1995.

Trends in Cancer Death Rates

While death rates from most of these cancers have decreased or stabilized, younger generations are also dying at higher rates from some of them, including colorectal cancer, which is screened for in the United States.

There could be something different about the biology of cancer in younger patients, suggested William Dahut, MD, a medical oncologist and the American Cancer Society’s chief scientific officer. “We probably need to think of different ways to screen for these cancers,” he said.

Kevin Nead who is MD, a radiation oncologist and assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, concurred: “We should actively assess and adjust screening practices for younger individuals so that we are not missing opportunities to find these cancers early and cure them,” he told ABC News, but added that screening is a complex topic and further research is needed to identify who is at greatest risk before any changes are made.